A Long Discussion of the Role of Senescent Cells in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Senescent cells are constantly created and destroyed throughout life, largely as a result of the replicative senescence that marks the end of life for a somatic cell, the Hayflick limit on cell division. With age, the pace of creation and destruction is disrupted, perhaps largely because the immune system ages to the point at which it falters in all of its tasks, clearance of senescent cells included. Senescent cells accumulate, and while never making up more than a small fraction of all somatic cells in any given tissue, the pro-growth, pro-inflammatory signaling generated by senescent cells is highly disruptive to organ structure and function. Fibrosis is one of the more noteworthy manifestations of the presence of too many lingering senescent cells. Fibrosis is a malfunction of the normal processes of tissue maintenance, in which excessive collagen is deposited to form scar-like fibrils, disruptive of tissue function. It occurs in the aged kidney, heart, liver, and lungs, and is presently largely irreversible. A greater degree of fibrosis and consequence loss of function in a given organ passes the threshold to be named as a medical condition, such as the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in the lung that is the topic of today's open access paper. It is a long and detailed discussion of what is known of the role of senescent cells in producing lung fibrosis; following a promising clinical trial testing a first generation senolytic therapy in patients with idiopat...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs