Fight Aging!

The Ageing Research blog is back to turning out posts again, the most recent of which focus on cellular senescence in aging. You might look back in the Fight Aging! archives for a general overview of the topic before continuing:

So-called 'senescent' cells are those that have lost the ability to reproduce themselves. They appear to accumulate in quite large numbers in just one tissue (the cartilage in our joints), but even in these small numbers they appear to pose a disproportionate threat to the surrounding, healthy tissues, because of their abnormal metabolic state. Senescent cells secrete abnormally large amounts of some proteins that are harmful to their neighbours, stimulating excessive growth and degrading normal tissue architecture.

In theory our immune system should be scouring the body to destroy senescent cells before they become an issue, but this process slowly fails - along with the other capacities of the immune system - with increasing age. But on to the posts I wanted to point out:

Cellular Senescence in Anti-Ageing Research:

Since senescent cells are potentially detrimental to the tissues in which they reside, anti-ageing research has three main aims for dealing with this problem: (1) Prevention: prevent cells from becoming senescent. (2) Removal: remove senescent cells as they appear. (3) Replacement: replacement of cells which have naturally or artificially been removed.

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Like all anti-ageing research, [prevention of senescence], senescent cell removal and cell replacement are at their infancy. Only with time, money, a deeper understanding of the ageing process and a motivation to succeed, will we begin to see the inevitable benefits of anti-ageing research.

The removal of senescent cells using therapeutic agents:

At present, no drug-based system exists which can specifically identify senescent cells and remove them. However, there is currently great interest in the development of drugs which specifically target and remove cancer cells. The problem with current cancer treatments (such as drugs used in chemotherapy) is that they are non-specific and as such can cause damage and undesirable changes to non-cancerous cells, causing side-effects. The development of cell-specific drug targeting is greatly needed and such research could be adapted to target senescent cells.

Beyond cancer and damage-causing senescent cells, there are a great many other potential applications for technologies that can kill very specific cell populations. Partially rejuvenating the immune system, for example, by removing the clutter of memory cells uselessly specialized for cytomegalovirus. Or healing autoimmune diseases by wiping out malfunctioning or errantly programmed immune cells. Such technologies even provide the foundation upon which future researchers will build entirely artificial immune systems far more effective and efficient than that provided by our biological heritage.

It's a bright future, and the longer we live, the brighter it will be for us. All the more reason to take care of your health today, so as to maximize your chances of living into the age of repair and rejuvenation.