Glial Cell Mitochondrial Stress Can Indirectly Signal to the Whole Organism

Glia of various sorts are supporting cells in the brain, assisting the function of neurons. Dysfunction and stress in glial cells is nonetheless important. A growing body of evidence suggests that cellular senescence in astrocytes and microglia contribute to age-related neurodegenerative conditions, for example. Further, stress of various forms in these cells may be provoking both inflammation and altered signaling throughout the brain and body. Overly active, pro-inflammatory astrocytes and microglia are implicated in neurodegeneration, even when these cells are not senescent. It isn't clear as to how much of this is a reaction to damage in the environment, such as the presence of protein aggregates, versus harmful changes that are intrinsic to cells, such as altered epigenetics and mitochondrial dysfunction. In today's open access paper, researchers report on a study of the way in which mitochondrial stress in glial cells can result in signaling to provoke compensatory responses throughout the organism. The study involved nematode worms, a much simpler organism than mammals, but one might expect much of this process to be similar in humans nonetheless. It suggests that novel ways to induce greater cell maintenance in the whole body might start by manipulating astrocytes and microglia. So far, little headway has been made in producing therapies to meaningfully slow aging by boosting cell stress responses. The research community has so far collectively failed to much i...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs