U.S. scientists have developed a protein that can turn the skin of people in their 70s back to that of those in their 30s. It removes glycotoxins that cause aging and inflammation. If the efficacy confirmed in cell experiments is proven in actual patients, it is expected not only to rejuvenate the skin but also to treat retinal, kidney, and heart diseases.
U.S. biotech corporation Revel Pharmaceuticals announced on the 14th (local time) in the international journal Nature Communications that it "developed an artificial enzyme that breaks down carboxymethyllysine (CML), a representative advanced glycation end-product (AGE)." Google's 2013-founded anti-aging corporation Calico Life Sciences and researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine also took part in the study.
◇Skin that ages like bread baking
When steak is seared by fire or bread is baked, the Maillard reaction produces its characteristic color and flavor. In the human body, the same process causes aging. In human tissues that have effectively been "baked" at 37 degrees Celsius over decades, sugars combine with proteins and fats, accumulating advanced glycation end-products. Because these substances cause inflammation and aging, they are called glycotoxins. Scientists describe glycotoxins as rust that builds up in human protein tissues.
The researchers decided to create a new enzyme if the human body lacks one that counters glycotoxins. When a person dies, advanced glycation end-products break down. That suggests microbes may have enzymes that degrade glycotoxins. Using artificial intelligence (AI) software, the team decoded more than 50,000 microbial DNA sequences and computed the enzyme structures the genes would produce. From these, they picked candidates that could cleave CML, a representative glycotoxin in human tissue.
In experiments, the final selected enzyme reduced CML glycotoxins by 52% in artificially damaged proteins. After letting it react overnight, 97% disappeared. The possibility of the same effect in actual patients was also confirmed. When tested on lens proteins from a 64-year-old donor, it reduced glycotoxins by 78% in a single application.
In aortic tissue from a 75-year-old donor, CML fell by more than 70%, and in skin tissue, by 55%. Aaron Cravens, CEO of Revel Pharmaceuticals and corresponding author of the paper, said, "We were able to return the level of advanced glycation end-products in the skin tissue of a 70-year-old to that of a 30-year-old."
The study overturns the conventional belief that proteins damaged by aging cannot be repaired and shows that enzyme-based repair of age-related damage at the molecular level is possible. Michael Jewett, a bioengineer at Stanford University, said of the study, "It is not yet ready for clinical application, but as a proof of concept, it opens the possibility of developing new therapies for longevity."
◇Pursuing development as a treatment for diabetes complications
The researchers plan to investigate whether the newly created enzyme can treat eye diseases that arise as glycotoxins accumulate in retinal and lens tissues. These diseases mainly appear in people with diabetes. According to Revel Pharmaceuticals, in theory a CML-clearing enzyme could, with a single administration, remove the inflammatory deposits that are the root cause of these eye diseases.
Likewise, it may be possible to treat aging-related diseases by improving the elasticity of skin collagen or eliminating glycotoxins that accumulate in kidney and cardiovascular tissues. Of course, the researchers said this study cannot immediately become an anti-aging treatment. They explained that it is a proof-of-concept result to see whether glycotoxins can be returned to a youthful state.
The researchers said that for a glycotoxin-clearing enzyme to be commercialized, it must be shown that the new enzyme can safely penetrate human tissues and reach damaged proteins, and that removing glycotoxins actually reduces inflammation in the body or improves the mechanical properties of tissues. If the remaining challenges are solved, rejuvenation therapies that turn back the human biological clock could move into full swing.
Seoul National University College of Medicine professor Cho Young-min introduced the study on Facebook, noting, "While techniques that selectively remove senescent cells are being actively researched, I thought damage to proteins between cells, like collagen, was irreparable," and added, "If further studies succeed, it will reverse aging in the extracellular matrix of organs and tissues and, in particular, provide a major breakthrough in treating skin aging."
References
Nature Communications (2026). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75141-2