Using Epigenetic Measures of Age to Determine that Cellular Aging is Distinct From Cellular Senescence

One of the research groups involved in developing biomarkers of aging based on characteristic epigenetic changes published a most interesting paper earlier this month, linked below, in which they use their tools to investigate cellular senescence and cell aging. Biomarkers to measure biological age, the degree to which an individual is damaged and their biology has become dysfunctional in response to that damage, are an important line of development. An effective biomarker might be used to quickly assess the overall benefits of a potential rejuvenation therapy in mammals. As an alternative to running full life span studies this would dramatically reduce the time and cost required for such research. Cheaper research and faster results are certainly good for the pace of progress where they can be achieved. Individual cells age, accumulating metabolic waste and unrepaired damage in the case of long-lived cells, or marching towards the Hayflick limit placed on the number of divisions permitted them in the case of short-lived somatic cells, but the relationship between cellular aging and tissue aging is not a straightforward one. A living being is a a dynamic system in which the majority of cells that make up its tissues are at some point replaced, on a schedule of days or months in most cases. Only in the central nervous system and a few other places do we find individual cells lasting a very long time, even the whole lifetime, and in which the steady accumulation of damage and ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs