Protein of youth (adventure of a sensation)

Abstract

A research group at the Harvard University in 2013 and the next years has published a series of articles focusing on one of transforming growth factors β, GDF-11. According to these reports mammalian blood and tissue concentrations of GDF-11 decrease with age. Increasing the GDF-11 content in old mice using daily injections of recombinant GDF-11 or one-month parabiosis induced in young mice significantly reduced and even eliminated adverse, old age-specific changes in the heart, skeletal muscles, and brain. The reports of the Harvard group have attracted much attention of the scientific community, and were cited in hundreds of publications where GDF-11 was often called the protein of youth. The solidity of the Harvard team statement warranted solidity of test experiments, which used the most reliable methods. These experiments have expanded the knowledge of GDF-11 but did not confirm its right to be called a protein of youth.