Reviewing the Role of Cellular Senescence in Metabolic Disease

Senescent cells accumulate with age throughout the body. In youth the immune system promptly removes senescent cells, but this clearance slows with advancing age, leading to a growing population of lingering senescent cells. Senescent cells cease replicating and devote their efforts to the production of pro-growth, pro-inflammatory signals that become disruptive to tissue structure and function. Thus a population of senescent cells acts to actively maintain a degraded state of tissue, and their removal is immediately beneficial. Mouse studies show compelling, rapid reversals of age-related disease and extended life span resulting from the use of senolytic therapies to clear senescent cells. Of note, metabolic diseases associated with obesity, and which become worse with old age, appear involve senescent cells in a prominent role. One of the reasons that obesity is bad for health is that it accelerates the accumulation of senescent cells. Cellular senescence refers to a stable non-proliferative state that cells enter in response to various stresses. This process is implicated in the development of various age-related diseases, including body aging, tumors, and senile dementia. Recently, an increasing number of researchers have focused on the relationship between cellular senescence and metabolic disorders. First, key cells involved in metabolic regulation undergo age-related changes. In patients with diabetes, the proportion of aging β-cells in the pancreas increases...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs