Brain protein Menin and amino acid D-serine show anti-aging effects in mice
In experiments with older mice, scientists found that levels of a brain protein called Menin decline with age. Restoring Menin reversed changes in memory, balance, bone mass, and skin thickness within 30 days, while the amino acid D-serine improved learning and memory in three weeks. The results suggest brain inflammation and chemistry may influence aging throughout the body, though the evidence comes from animals.
The hypothalamus, a small region at the brain's base, governs temperature, hunger, metabolism, sleep and hormones, so shifts there can ripple across organs. Menin, which limits hypothalamic inflammation and helps regulate gene activity, declined with age in certain neurons — but not in astrocytes or microglia. Mice engineered to lose Menin showed more inflammation, thinner skin, less bone, weaker cognition and modestly shorter lives.
Restoring Menin in older animals reversed memory, balance, bone and skin changes within 30 days; D-serine improved learning and memory in three weeks. The work, led by Lige Leng at Xiamen University and published in PLOS Biology in March 2023, was done in mice.
If these animal findings translate, they could reshape how clinicians think about age-related cognitive and physical decline, potentially offering routes — a protein target or an amino acid supplement — that address brain inflammation rather than symptoms alone. Older adults and their caregivers might benefit most, though years of human trials would be needed first. D-serine supplements are already sold, so consumers may encounter premature claims, since the evidence remains from animals and human safety or benefit is unestablished.