Aging & Longevity

LncExpDB is a comprehensive expression database of human long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) across diverse biological contexts. Here, we present LncExpDB 2.0 (https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/lncexpdb/) with significant updates and enhancements as detailed below: (i) expansion of biological contexts from 9 to 15 by integrating immunotherapy, aging, metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, reproduction, and wound healing; (ii) identification of 44 752 highly expressed genes, 39 253 featured genes with...

Single-cell transcriptomics is reshaping the study of cellular physiology and pathology by revealing fine-grained cell functions and states. Interpreting these signals across cell types, organs, and species benefits from curated gene sets and tools for comparative analysis. Here, we introduce scGeneBank (http://8.142.154.29/scGeneBank or http://www.genebank.info), a database and analysis portal for gene set-driven exploration at single-cell resolution. The resource integrates 1134 carefully...

Aging not only significantly reduces the quality of life for the elderly but also poses multifaceted challenges to society. Its progression involves the synergistic interaction of multidimensional, multipathway molecular mechanisms, including mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress accumulation, chronic inflammation, and genomic damage. Quercetagetin (QG), as a natural flavanol monomer, exhibits significant potential in anti-aging due to its simultaneous targeting of key aging pathways such...

Vocal fold fibroblasts play an important role in the production of the extracellular matrix in the vocal folds. Myofibroblasts increase in the aging vocal fold lamina propria with increased alpha-smooth muscle actin. In addition to alpha-smooth muscle actin, various sarcomeric genes are expressed in myofibroblasts. However, there have been no studies on sarcomeric genes with myofibroblast differentiation in aging vocal folds. The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes and functions of...

Women with breast cancer often experience cognitive decline, an accelerated aging phenotype. While aerobic exercise may mitigate this decline, effects are inconsistent by domains, and the molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Given the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)'s responsiveness to exercise and role in cognition, we investigated BDNF methylation and rs6265, its functional SNP, with cognitive responses to aerobic exercise. Leveraging data from a randomized clinical trial which found...

CONCLUSION: The worsening of frailty with age is more common in older adults than the improvement of frailty. Among robust and pre-frail individuals, older women are more likely to experience a deterioration in frailty status. The factors influencing frailty transitions are multifaceted and complex. Therefore, when intervening in the progression of frailty among older adults, it is essential to comprehensively assess frailty risks and influencing factors based on the diverse characteristics and...

CONCLUSIONS: In order to prevent accident-related deaths, it is important to take protective measures and facilitate access to emergency medical services for geriatric individuals, especially those with chronic diseases. This is particularly important for preventing traffic accidents in urban areas and firearm and animal attacks in rural areas. Examining the causes and risk factors of accident-related deaths in the older population can promote healthier ageing. This study provides important data...

Aging is a key driver of cardiac dysfunction, promoting structural remodeling, metabolic alterations, and loss of cellular resilience. In aged hearts, extracellular matrix remodeling and collagen accumulation reduce ventricular compliance, impairing both diastolic function and stress adaptability. Cardiomyocytes exhibit diminished regenerative capacity and dysregulated stress responses, with mitochondrial dysfunction emerging as a central contributor to energy imbalance, oxidative stress, and...

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are a global source of hospitalization, long-term disability, and death. However, age, sex, and other demographics differ widely among patients and the variable characteristics of TBIs further obscure injury outcomes. Here, we used Drosophila melanogaster to assess the effects of mild, repeated TBI (multi-day, MD) compared to single, severe TBI (single-day, SD). In all genotypes tested, flies given an SD injury exhibited higher acute mortality, but in some...

Tendon degeneration is common, and its risk increases with age both in humans and horses. Tendon regeneration and healing is limited due to inherent low cell density and vascularisation, and current treatments are insufficient as indicated by scar tissue formation and a high re-injury rate. The tendon vasculature plays a crucial role in tendon homeostasis, regeneration and healing, making it a potential therapeutic target. However, the effect of ageing on the tendon microvasculature is poorly...

Down syndrome, caused by an extra copy of Chromosome 21, causes lifelong problems. One of the most common phenotypes among people with Down syndrome is premature aging, including early tissue decline, neurodegeneration, and shortened life span. Yet the reasons for premature systemic aging are a mystery and difficult to study in humans. Here we show that chromosome amplification in wild yeast also produces premature aging and shortens life span. Chromosome duplication disrupts nutrient-induced...

Aging compromises intestinal integrity, yet the chromatin changes driving this decline remain unclear. Polycomb-mediated repression is essential for silencing developmental genes, but this regulatory mechanism becomes dysregulated with age. Although shifts in Polycomb regulation within intestinal stem cells have been linked to gut aging, the Polycomb landscape of differentiated cell types remains unexplored. Differentiated cells comprise the majority of the gut epithelium and directly impact...

CONCLUSIONS: SUA is significantly associated with frailty in both community and surgical populations. In community population, a U-shaped relationship was observed, whereas only high SUA levels predict frailty perioperatively. Females are more susceptible to SUA-related frailty.

Limited identification of insulin resistance-associated loci hinders understanding of its role in cardiometabolic health, impeding therapeutic strategies. We apply three multivariate genome-wide association study approaches on homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance, insulin resistance index, fasting insulin, and ratio of triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol from MAGIC and UK Biobank to develop a comprehensive phenotype ('mvIR'), and identify 217 independent loci,...

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Somatic mutation is now recognized as a cause of multiple human diseases other than cancer. Osteoarthritis (OA), a highly prevalent age-related disease, has been associated with increased chromosomal abnormalities in articular cartilage. Here we characterize the somatic mutational landscape of chondrocytes during normal aging and in affected cartilage of patients with OA. We used single-cell whole-genome sequencing to analyze single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) and small insertions and deletions...

A systematic investigation of aging patterns across virtually all major tissues in nonhuman primates, our evolutionarily closest relatives, can provide valuable insights into tissue aging in humans, which is still elusive largely due to the difficulty in sampling. Here, we generated and analyzed multi-omics data, including transcriptome, proteome and metabolome, from 30 tissues of 17 female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) aged 3-27 years. We found that certain molecular features, such as...

Elucidating the impact of aging on the structure and function of neurons is key to understanding the mechanisms underlying synaptic dysfunction and ensuing susceptibility to age-related cognitive decline. The role of structural alterations in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) has been extensively addressed. In addition, numerous studies point to the importance of inflammation and the increase of oxidative stress during aging, with mitochondria as one of the key cellular organelles involved....

Humanitarian emergencies, including wars, forced displacements, sudden onset disasters, and pandemics, disproportionately affect older persons. This scoping review aims to map and synthesise existing studies on the care needs of older persons in such contexts, emphasising needs directly reported by the older persons themselves. A literature search was conducted on PubMed and EMBASE, focusing on qualitative studies that reported care needs of older persons in the context of humanitarian crises....

Ovarian aging is a complex process that compromises fertility and elevates the risk of reproductive disorders. To elucidate its spatiotemporal dynamics, we integrated single-nucleus RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics to construct a comprehensive aging atlas of 12 human ovarian tissues spanning ages 12-54 (prepubertal, age 12, n = 1; young, ages 23-29, n = 4; middle-aged, ages 32-34, n = 2; and older-aged, ages 42-54, n = 5). Our analysis revealed aging-related transcriptomic shifts,...