Reversing the Aged Immune System with Stem Cells

The growing application for stem cells in medicine brings up the question of their role in aging and, to answer, how the information can be used to prevent or restore cellular aging. Such inquiry is fundamental to maintaining healthy aging. The significance of healthy aging is its positive impact on the global economy. Healthy-aged individuals would be able to remain in the workforce and, at the same time, reduce the resources within the healthcare system. This chapter focuses on the hematopoietic system because it is the source of immune cells. A healthy immune system can respond to infection, enhanced cancer surveillance, and response to a vaccine. Historical use of parabiotic animal models indicated that young secretome could restore aged tissues. This leads to the question of how stem cell scientists can apply this model to restore the immune system. This chapter discusses young cells and their secretome in reversing the aged hematopoietic system. Such stem cell-mediated changes are discussed for impact on other organs, particularly neural health and possible treatment for other diseases.