Targeting Cellular Senescence as an Intervention in Aging

Senolytic drugs that destroy senescent cells, and later on, other senotherapies that either prevent senescence or block the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), are going to be very important in the treatment of aging. Senescent cells accumulate with age and are highly damaging to tissues. Via the SASP, even comparatively small numbers of lingering senescent cells actively disrupt health and tissue function, driving age-related disease and mortality. Removing these errant cells causes quite rapid rejuvenation in animal studies, meaningfully reversing the progression of numerous age-related conditions. Other approaches to the treatment of aging attempted to date have so far failed to produce results that are as robust and impressive as the data emerging from the study of senolytics. Within a few years we'll know just how well that translates to humans for at least a few conditions, as a number of clinical trials are presently underway or planned. Cellular senescence is a primary aging process and tumor suppressive mechanism characterized by irreversible growth arrest, apoptosis resistance, production of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), mitochondrial dysfunction, and alterations in DNA and chromatin. In preclinical aging models, accumulation of senescent cells is associated with multiple chronic diseases and disorders, geriatric syndromes, multimorbidity, and accelerated aging phenotypes. In animals, genetic and pharmacologic reduction o...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs