RAS/MAPK Pathway Inhibition as an Example of the Way in Which Cancer Research Informs Aging Research

A sizable number of potential approaches to slowing aging via metabolic manipulation were first tested in the cancer research community. In part, this is because that side of the research community has tested near every compound in the libraries at some point in time, but it is also the case there are deep ties between approaches that might impact cancer and changes that might slow aging. This is particularly the case in the matter of cellular senescence, of great relevance to both cancer and aging, and the first senolytic drugs to clear senescent cells had already seen some success in the cancer field. In at least one case, dasatinib, this success is likely precisely because it is a senolytic, and senescent cells encourage growth of the leukemias that the dasatinib is used to treat. More often, however, the outcome for aging is not as dramatic as is the case for senolytics. Slowing aging is a usually a marginal affair, achieved by triggering cellular stress response mechanisms, or influencing growth and energy metabolism in some way. The gains in humans will most likely be much smaller than those achieved in mice, judging from the existing points of comparison, such as practice of calorie restriction, or populations with loss of function mutations affecting growth hormone signaling, such as Laron syndrome. Today's open access paper is an example of this sort of age-slowing intervention, well-explored in the cancer research community, and which may gain some interest i...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs