TERT and its Activator TAC

    Shim, et al published a recent (6/21/2024) paper in Cell entitled "TERT activation targets DNA methylation and multiple aging hallmarks,"  in which they present some very interesting results on aging and its reversal (LINK).  Hers's the abstract:

"Insufficient telomerase activity, stemming from low telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene transcription, contributes to telomere dysfunction and aging pathologies. Besides its traditional function in telomere synthesis, TERT acts as a transcriptional co-regulator of genes pivotal in aging and age-associated diseases. Here, we report the identification of a TERT activator compound (TAC) that upregulates TERT transcription via the MEK/ERK/AP-1 cascade. In primary human cells and naturally aged mice, TAC-induced elevation of TERT levels promotes telomere synthesis, blunts tissue aging hallmarks with reduced cellular senescence and inflammatory cytokines, and silences p16INK4a expression via upregulation of DNMT3B-mediated promoter hypermethylation. In the brain, TAC alleviates neuroinflammation, increases neurotrophic factors, stimulates adult neurogenesis, and preserves cognitive function without evident toxicity, including cancer risk. Together, these findings underscore TERT’s critical role in aging processes and provide preclinical proof of concept for physiological TERT activation as a strategy to mitigate multiple aging hallmarks and associated pathologies."

    The problem with the paper is that they are rather cagy about just what the activator molecule TAC is, although they do provide an image of it.  It looks like this:

  An industrious person with more knowledge of organic chemistry than me has been able to identify the molecule as N-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)-4-fluoro-3,5-dimethylbenzenesulfonamide, which has the molecular formula C14H12ClF2NO2S.  He found this PubChem LINK.

    If one wanted to take TAC as a self-experiment, there's no information in the paper about dosage, method of administration, or how one could obtain it.  I have found from the PubChem information that MolPort in Latvia will sell you 100 mg of 90% pure N-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)-4-fluoro-3,5-dimethylbenzene-1-sulfonamide made by Maybridge, Ltd. for a total price of $241.43 and can ship in about 2 weeks.  Some of the other linked vendors also sell it, but at prices higher by a factor of 2 or more.  However, I would not be inclined to do any self-experimentation with no dosage guidance and with something that is "90% pure" without knowing what the other 10% is.

    Are there any bio-entrepreneurs out there who could provide a USP version of TAC, along with suggestions about dosage and how to take it?