More Evidence for Senescent Cell Signaling to be a Cause of Age-Related Fibrosis

Regeneration and tissue maintenance are highly complex, regulated processes. Unfortunately, these processes run awry as the low-level molecular damage of aging increases over the years. Cells change their behavior, change the signals they produce, and one of the detrimental outcomes of these changes is fibrosis. This is the creation of scar-like collagen structures in place of the expected arrangement of cells and extracellular matrix. Since the fine details of that arrangement matter greatly to the correct function of organs, fibrosis is very harmful. It features prominently in the most common age-related diseases of the lungs, kidneys, liver, and heart, but can be found in other tissues as well. With the explosion of interest in senescent cells as a cause of aging over the past few years, and a matching increase in funding for studies, research groups have been able to prove that the presence of lingering senescent cells is a significant cause of fibrosis. Senescent cells have an important transient role to play in wound healing and regeneration in general: in a perfect world some cells become senescent, their signals and their interaction with the immune system directs rapid and accurate reconstruction of tissue, and all of these temporary senescent cells then promptly self-destruct or are consumed by the immune cells called macrophages. Unfortunately this system starts to head downhill into disarray given a growing population of senescent cells that stick around fo...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs