Rapamycin for the aging skin

摘要

In 2007, I filed a patent application claiming that topical rapamycin (e.g., in the form of a cream or ointment) could be used to prevent and treat skin aging. Potential indications include various types of age-related spots, wrinkles, photo-aged skin, and other age-related skin conditions. The patent was not granted, nor were cosmetic companies interested in pursuing this avenue of product development. Cell senescence has traditionally been seen as growth arrest. It seemed weird that rapamycin, a drug that inhibits growth, could inhibit cellular senescence. Nonetheless, it works because, actually, senescence is a continuation of growth when true growth is impossible [ ]; in other words, senescence is “twisted” growth [ ]. In an exciting ‘twist’, these claims were recently confirmed in a clinical trial by Chung et al. [ ], which I will discuss later.