Telomeres were recently popularized – and legitimized – by a Nobel Prize winning team of scientists. Research on telomeres and aging has led to an ingredient called teprenone (sometimes marketed under the name of Renovage) cropping up in anti-aging potions and lotions.
So how do telomeres work? If DNA is broken there are two options after the cell cycle is stopped: Repair or death. If cells divided without telomeres, they would lose the end of their chromosomes, and the necessary information it contains. They are often described as being like the tips on the ends of shoelaces that stop them unraveling (the pink bits in the image). Telomeres shorten every time a cell divides. When they become very short, they trigger cell crisis and cell death. As we know, cells can only replicate a limited number of times – a phenomena called the Hayflick Limit. There’s more on telomeres in an article posted last August.
In cosmetics, the objective not to lengthen the teleomeres, stabilize them so that at least they won’t shorten. Maintaining telomere length extends, we are told, the Hayflick Limit by one third. Renovage (made by the people behind Matrixyl) aims to do just that.
On the Renovage page they state:
n vitro studies showed several properties of RENOVAGE™ as cutaneous functional and structural recovery, and above all, it avoids premature entry into cell senescence.
Not exactly what we're looking for..but..may I say..still interesting...
Abstract 42, Date 1:00 pm, Sunday, February 15, 2009 (24 hours)
Session D11: Poster
The Protection of Vestibular Hair Cells with the Oral Administration of Teprenone
*Kazuma Sugahara, Takefumi Mikuriya, Yoshinobu Hirose, Yuji Miyauchi, Tetsuya Miyauchi, Makoto Hashimoto, Hiroaki Shimogori, Hiroshi %&$!
In the previous meeting, we reported that the heat shock proteins play the great role in the protection of the hair cells against the stress. The oral administration of heat shock inducer: teprenone can protect hair cells against the intense noise. In this present study, we studied the effect of teprenone on vestibular hair cell death induced by aminoglycoside.
We used the CBA/N mice (4 w – 6 w). These mice were fed with the food containing teprenone (0.5%) for 4 weeks (teprenone group). The mice fed with the normal food were used for control (control group). 4 animals were used for immunohistochemistry against Hsp70. The utricles of the other animals were cultured in the medium for 24 h. The hair cell death was induced with neomycin. After fixation, the vestibular hair cells were labeled with the immunohistochemistry against calmodulin, and the survival hair cells were evaluated.
In the vestibular hair cells of teprenone group, Hsp-70 was expressed. In addition, after culture, the more vestibular hair cells survived in teprenone group than in control group. The results showed that the oral administration of teprenone can induce the heat shock response in the vestibule and may protect sernsory cells.
As far as an anti-wrinkle, skin repair ingredient, products with teprenone are showing some pretty impressive results. Check out these B&A pics after 1 month:
On Oct. 26, 2008, people from all over the country attended my first ever conference on telomeres (pronounced tell-o-meers).
Surrounded by some of the world’s most recognized, cutting-edge researchers in the field, we shared how telomeres are the key to aging. And everyone who witnessed the event walked away with the ability to control their aging clock and add years of abundant health to their lives.
Telomeres are the “time keepers” attached to every strand of your DNA. They’re critical to youthful cell function. But each time your cells divide, your telomeres get shorter. When your telomeres run down, cell division stops and your life ends.
The telomere is the most important discovery in human history. We now understand the mechanism of aging and how to influence it. Life on this planet will never be the same.
In fact, the discovery of telomeres just won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
I’ve been researching the power of telomeres for years now. I’m the first physician ever licensed to administer TA-65 — the only commercially available treatment that lengthens human telomeres. TA-65 is the most dramatic advance in the world of life extension.
And now, I’ve discovered a way to apply this Nobel Prize-winning breakthrough to skin care. It virtually shuts down the aging of your skin’s DNA.
By repairing your skin’s DNA, you can plump up your skin and erase wrinkles, tighten up your sagging jaw line, make your crow’s feet disappear, and banish sun and aging spots.1
It all begins with an extract that slows the aging process and can extend the lifespan of your skin cells by up to 30%.2
This amazing extract, called teprenone, delays the shortening of your telomeres and protects your skin’s DNA so you can avoid many of the destructive effects that come with age.3
We all get a thrill when we’re told we look younger than we really are. We feel young, we think young, we act young … and we want to LOOK young, for as long as possible.
That’s why this compound is so exciting. It’s the single best – and easiest – thing you can do for your skin to restore the youth and energy you want the world to see.
Each and every day toxins bombard your skin. And when those enzymes disappear it degrades the proteins, antioxidants and oxygen your skin needs to thrive… and damages your skin’s DNA in the process.
Teprenone actively limits – even prevents – oxidative build up in your skin cells and protect your DNA by helping your skin to produce a protein that protects cells against oxidant damage. It also protects the antioxidant activity naturally produced by your skin cells.4
I made it one of the key ingredients in my new DNA Rejuvenation Cream, Revive.
My Revive DNA Rejuvenation Cream helps maintain telomeres and extend the lifespan of your skin cells. I’ve added other key ingredients to help erase all of the signs of aging and revive the youth and radiance of younger years.
These potent skin-saving ingredients have real science behind them. In clinical trials of women, the results were remarkable.
Check out these numbers:5
* 100% increased the level of moisture in their skin
* 100% saw sun spots improve significantly
* Over 90% saw a decrease in redness and pore size
* 75% experienced an improvement in skin tone and elasticity
* 75% felt roughness and fine lines faded noticeably
