Aging & Longevity

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. As an age-related disease, its pathogenesis is shaped by several molecular hallmarks of aging, including impaired DNA repair and diminished stress resilience. The transcription factor NRF2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2) is a master regulator of oxidative stress defense and cellular survival. While NRF2 activation is protective in aging tissues, it may also be exploited by cancer cells to promote tumor...

Proteoglycan 4 (PRG4) is a mucin-like glycoprotein best known as a boundary lubricant of articular cartilage; however, it also has anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, and immunomodulatory properties. Loss-of-function mutations in the PRG4 gene in humans result in Camptodactyly-Arthropathy-Coxa vara-Pericarditis (CACP), a rare disease in which patients often require joint replacements at young ages. However, it remains unknown how circulating PRG4 levels change with age or how PRG4 deficiency...

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The findings from this cross-sectional study suggest that both possible sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity are significantly associated with an increased risk of probable dementia among older adults residing in the community in China. Notably, the relationship between sarcopenic obesity and dementia appears to be more pronounced compared to either possible sarcopenia or obesity alone. Moreover, incorporating waist circumference alongside components of possible...

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated a non-linear relationship between CC and global cognition in older Chinese population. Furthermore, sex disparities are observed in the relationship between CC and global cognition, with a non-linear link evident in women but not in men. Older women with lower CC should actively participate in physical activity to maintain an appropriate CC and prevent cognitive decline.

Cockayne Syndrome (CS) is an autosomal recessive disorder arising from mutations in either of two disease-associated genes, ERCC6 or ERCC8. CS patients exhibit cutaneous photosensitivity, neuropathological abnormalities, severe growth retardation, a distinctive facial appearance with pronounced sunken eyes, musculoskeletal anomalies, sensory impairment, and dental decay. Approximately 70% of all CS cases carry ERCC6 mutations; therefore, this review will focus solely on Cockayne Syndrome...

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Dietary restriction (DR) robustly increases lifespan across taxa. However, in humans, long-term DR is difficult to maintain, leading to the search for compounds that regulate metabolism and increase lifespan without reducing caloric intake. The magnitude of lifespan extension from two such compounds, rapamycin and metformin, remains inconclusive, particularly in vertebrates. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis comparing lifespan extension conferred by rapamycin and metformin to DR-mediated...

Cellular quiescence is a state of reversible proliferative arrest that plays essential roles in development, resistance to stress, aging, and longevity of organisms. Here we report that rapid depletion of RNase MRP, a deeply conserved RNA-based enzyme required for rRNA biosynthesis, induces a long-term yet reversible proliferative arrest in human cells. Severely compromised biogenesis of rRNAs along with acute transcriptional reprogramming precede a gradual decline of the critical cellular...

Ageing has profound effects on the human brain across the lifespan. Cognitive testing and brain imaging are currently used to monitor healthy and pathological brain ageing. However, peripheral markers of cognitive function, cognitive ageing and neurological disease could provide a valuable, minimally invasive approach to tracking these processes longitudinally. In this Review, we introduce the concept of DNA methylation-based biomarkers and present current evidence of their potential to address...

The nervous system is primarily composed of neurons and glia, and the communication between them has profound roles in regulating the development and function of the brain. Neuron-glia signal transduction is known to be mediated by secreted signals through ligand-receptor interactions on the cell membrane. Here we show a new mechanism for neuron-glia signal transduction, wherein neurons transmit proteins to glia through extracellular vesicles, activating glial signaling pathways. We find that in...

Aging biomarkers that predict age given methylomic data are referred to as epigenetic aging clocks. While the earliest, first-generation clocks were exclusively trained to predict chronological age, more recent next-generation models have been explicitly trained to associate with health, lifestyle, and/or age-related outcomes. Although these next-generation models have been trained using distinct approaches and techniques, existing evidence indicates that they associate with a greater number of...

ObjectiveTo identify subgroups of midlife and older adults from the United States (US), defined by specific combinations of factors, who are more or less likely to meet age-specific sleep duration recommendations.MethodsParticipants (n = 3,124) aged ≥ 40 years were drawn from the 2011-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cycles. The primary outcome was meeting age-specific sleep duration recommendations (7 to 9 hours per night) to promote optimal health. Signal detection...

CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with both VI and poor mobility are at an additive increased risk of mortality. Future interventions may want to target older adults with both VI and poor mobility to improve survival.

The varying incidence of aging-related diseases and the gender gap in life expectancy suggest differences in the aging process between the sexes. Yet, little is known about sex-specific differences in genomic instability, a key factor in aging. Here, we analyzed DNA damage responses (DDRs) in cycling peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) from female and male donors of different age, focusing on replication stress. Transcriptomics revealed striking...

The relationship between in vitro senescence cell induction and intracellular biomolecular dysregulation is still poorly understood. In this study, we have found that a range of metabolic subphenotypes exists and is dependent on the induction method that is used. To develop understanding of these subphenotypes, we developed and employed a novel bioanalytical pipeline integrating untargeted metabolomics, label-free proteomics, and stable isotope tracing alongside cellular deformability...

Cellular senescence, an irreversible cell cycle arrest, plays a pivotal role in development, aging, and tumor suppression. However, the fundamental pathway coordinating senescence and neoplastic transformation remains unclear. Here, we describe the tumorigenic involvement of ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component n-recognin 4 (UBR4), an E3 ubiquitin ligase of the N-degron pathway, in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Public genome databases revealed high UBR4 expression in LUAD patients, associated...

The cellular networks that maintain genome stability encompass numerous pathways involved in all aspects of nucleic acid metabolism. Through bioinformatic analysis, we identified the Zinc Finger CCCH-Type Containing 4 protein (ZC3H4), a suppressor of noncoding RNA (ncRNA) production, as a pivotal player in this system. Experimentally, ZC3H4 deficiency led to increased DNA damage, abnormal mitosis, and cellular senescence. Biochemical analysis and super-resolution microscopy revealed that the...

Approximately 35% of US adults over 65 are obese, highlighting the need for therapies targeting age-related metabolic issues. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a hormone mainly produced by the liver, improves metabolism and extends lifespan. To explore its effects without developmental confounders, we generated mice with adipocyte-specific FGF21 overexpression beginning in adulthood. When fed a high-fat diet, these mice lived up to 3.3 years, resisted weight gain, improved insulin...

Ovarian failure is a key event in female reproductive aging, resulting in the depletion of follicular reserve and a decline in fertility. In addition, it triggers systemic pathological changes, including osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease, due to decreased estrogen levels. Despite extensive study, mapping senescent ovarian cells is challenging due to the multicellular composition and heterogeneity of the ovary. In the past decade, single-cell resolution technologies have provided new...

Accumulating evidence indicates that biological aging can be accelerated by environmental exposures, collectively called the 'exposome'. The skin, as the largest and most exposed organ, can be viewed as a 'window' for the deep exploration of the exposome and its effects on systemic aging. The complex interplay across hallmarks of aging in the skin and systemic biological aging suggests that physiological processes associated with skin aging influence, and are influenced by, systemic hallmarks of...