{"id":210312,"date":"2025-04-01T13:20:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T18:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/disrupted-bbb-glycome-in-aging"},"modified":"2025-04-01T13:20:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T18:20:40","slug":"disrupted-bbb-glycome-in-aging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/disrupted-bbb-glycome-in-aging","title":{"rendered":"Disrupted BBB glycome in aging"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/disrupted-bbb-glycome-in-aging2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In a study in aging mice, the first author has uncovered striking age-related changes in the sugary coating \u2013 called the glycocalyx \u2013 on cells that form the blood-brain barrier, a structure that protects the brain by filtering out harmful substances while allowing in essential nutrients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe glycocalyx is like a forest,\u201d the author explains. \u201cIn young, healthy brains, this forest is lush and thriving. But in older brains, it becomes sparse, patchy, and degraded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These age-related changes to the glycocalyx weaken the blood-brain barrier, the author found. As the barrier becomes leaky with age, harmful molecules can infiltrate the brain, potentially fueling inflammation, cognitive decline, and neurodegenerative diseases.<\/p>\n<p>The results were striking: In older mice, bottlebrush-shaped, sugar-coated proteins called mucins, a key component of the glycocalyx, were significantly reduced. This thinning of the glycocalyx correlated with increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier and heightened neuroinflammation.<\/p>\n<p>When the team reintroduced those critical mucins in aged mice, restoring a more \u201cyouthful\u201d glycocalyx, they improved the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, reduced neuroinflammation, and measurably improved cognitive function.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cModulating glycans has a major effect on the brain \u2013 both negatively in aging, when these sugars are lost, and positively, when they are restored,\u201d the lead says. \u201cThis opens an entirely new avenue for treating brain aging and related diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/disrupted-bbb-glycome-in-aging\">Continue reading \u201cDisrupted BBB glycome in aging\u201d | &gt;<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a study in aging mice, the first author has uncovered striking age-related changes in the sugary coating \u2013 called the glycocalyx \u2013 on cells that form the blood-brain barrier, a structure that protects the brain by filtering out harmful substances while allowing in essential nutrients. \u201cThe glycocalyx is like a forest,\u201d the author explains. [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,269,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-life-extension","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}