Aging & Longevity

To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the relationships among immunoscenescence and inflammaging, and subsequent epigenetic aging, we measured a panel of 43 immune cell phenotypes and 68 inflammatory proteins collected from blood samples provided by participants in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort at Exam 7 (1998-2001) and principal component-based DNA methylation (DNAm)-based biologic clocks measured at the subsequent exam (Exam 8 2005-2008), an average of 6 years later. A...

RNAs and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play crucial roles in stress granule (SG) dynamics, yet the specific interactions between SG-associated circular RNAs (circRNAs) and RBPs in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remain unclear. In this study, we identified m6A-modified circG3BP1 as a potential prognostic biomarker in ESCC. Under cisplatin-induced stress, IGF2BPs facilitate the m6A-dependent translocation of circG3BP1 to SGs, where it functions as a scaffold to enhance TIAR-CAPRIN1...

Being a major contributor to cell senescence and aging, DNA damage activates macroautophagy/autophagy, but how this process is affected by aging-rewired metabolism in normal biological systems remains to be explored. Here in cultured human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HsMSCs) and the mouse liver that accumulate DNA damage during aging, we found an elevation of DRAM1 (DNA damage regulated autophagy modulator 1) and DRAM1-mediated pro-senescent autophagy (DMPA). Confirming that...

Blood vessels exhibit a pronounced vulnerability to aging and are often at the forefront of systemic aging processes. Vascular endothelial cells, which line blood vessels and directly contact blood flow, are susceptible to damage and play a key role in vascular aging; however, the underlying mechanisms of their aging remain unclear. Here, we identify TRPM7 as a key molecule in vascular endothelial aging. Endothelial deletion of TRPM7 significantly accelerates premature vascular aging in mice....

We aimed to use multi-state models to assess joint impacts of lifestyle and genetic risk with phenotypic age acceleration on cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) trajectory, and to further explore whether phenotypic age acceleration mediates association between lifestyle and each transitions. We conducted a prospective cohort study included 365,573 adults free of cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) at baseline in UK Biobank. Multi-state model was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95%...

The locus coeruleus (LC) is a brainstem nucleus best known for being the primary site of noradrenaline production for the forebrain and is involved in the modulation and optimization of behavioral performance. The LC has many targets throughout the cortex, and ascending projections from the LC join the central tegmental tract (CTT), a well-defined white matter brainstem tract in the pons that terminates in the thalamus. Evidence indicates that the LC is one of the first brain regions to show...

Life expectancy has been increasing over the last decades, which is not matched by an increase in healthspan. Besides genetic composition, environmental and nutritional factors influence both health- and lifespan. Diet is thought to be a major factor for healthy ageing. Here, we show that dietary RNA species improve proteostasis in C. elegans. Inherent bacterial-derived double stranded RNA reduces protein aggregation in a C. elegans muscle proteostasis model. This beneficial effect depends on...

We aimed to determine reference values for handgrip strength in Europe. Data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe were used, involving adults aged 50 + years. Reference values were expressed as weighted percentiles for absolute (kg) and relative (kg/m²) handgrip strength. For women, the highest absolute handgrip strength was observed among the 50-54-year-olds (standing: 5th percentile [P5] = 19 kg; 50th percentile [P50] = 29 kg; 95th percentile [P95] = 39 kg, sitting: P5 =...

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Multi-organ research investigates interconnections among multiple human organ systems, enhancing our understanding of human aging and disease mechanisms. Here we use multi-organ imaging, individual- and summary-level genetics, and proteomics data consolidated via the MULTI Consortium to delineate a brain-heart-eye axis using brain patterns of structural covariance (PSCs), heart imaging-derived phenotypes (IDPs) and eye IDPs. We find that proteome-wide associations of the PSCs and IDPs show...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a whole-joint disorder that interferes with the quality of life in older individuals. Here we report that ZDHHC11 is highly expressed in articular chondrocytes but is downregulated in the degenerated cartilage of aged mice and patients with OA. ZDHHC11 prevents chondrocyte senescence and promotes cartilage anabolism, culminating in an improved OA phenotype. The deletion of Zdhhc11 in mice (Zdhhc11^(fl/fl)) exacerbates OA progression in a destabilized medial meniscus model....

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Understanding disease progression is of high biological and clinical interest. Unlike disease susceptibility, whose genetic basis has been abundantly studied, less is known about the genetics of disease progression and its overlap with disease susceptibility. Considering nine common diseases (n(cases) ranging from 11,980 to 124,682) across seven biobanks, we systematically compared genetic architectures of susceptibility and progression, defined as disease-specific mortality. We identified only...

Aging is a significant risk factor in ovarian cancers, which remains one of the most lethal gynecological malignancies. Over 50 % of ovarian cancer cases occur in women aged 65 and older. During aging, senescent cells progressively accumulate in various tissues, contributing to structural and inflammatory changes in the tumor microenvironment. While recent studies have underscored the role of the senescent mesothelial cells in facilitating cancer cell dissemination, the contribution of senescent...

Fabricating high-performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with solution processing is conducive to low-cost commercial production, it is therefore rather critical to stabilize perovskite in both solution and solid phases. For this purpose, the speed-up ageing of perovskite solution in air was systematically studied and its severe spontaneous degradation was observed. To address this issue, we introduce 4-(trifluoromethyl) phenylhydrazine (TFPH) to modify the perovskite solution, which presents...

Before human genome sequencing, a genome-wide study of sibling centenarian pairs identified a longevity-associated locus on chromosome 4. Here, we mapped the genes in this locus and identified a collagen gene, COL25A1. Introducing an SNP linked to longevity that changes a serine predicted to be phosphorylated to leucine in COL25A1, into col-99, the C. elegans ortholog, extended lifespan. These col-99(gk694263[S106L]) SNP-mutants exhibited enhanced innate immune-related transcriptional responses,...

Telomere shortening is a well-established marker of cellular aging and genomic instability. While the relationship between leukocyte telomere length and cardiovascular diseases has long been of interest, their genetic interplay remains incompletely understood. In this study, we observe substantial genetic overlap beyond genome-wide correlations and identify a potential causal relationship between leukocyte telomere length and coronary artery disease. Specifically, we discover 248 pleiotropic...

Aging is a complex biological process leading to functional decline and disease susceptibility. This article proposes that chronic activation of tissue damage response mechanisms drives aging, with aged organs exhibiting features similar to those seen after acute injury, such as histolysis, inflammation, immune cell infiltration, accumulation of lipid droplets, and induction of cellular senescence. The overlap between injury and aging phenotypes is supported by evidence that interventions...

Approximately half of pancreatic cancer patients present with comorbid diabetes. Diabetes is correlated with adverse prognostic outcomes in pancreatic cancer patients, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the cancer-associated endothelial niche is reshaped in the diabetic pancreatic tumor microenvironment and enhances the tumor-promoting capacity. Senescent endothelial cells expand in the diabetic tumor microenvironment and produce a potential...

Genomic instability is a hallmark of aging and cancer. A key contributor to genomic instability includes alternative DNA structures, such as cruciform-forming inverted repeats (IRs). Short IRs (< 100 bps) are abundant in the human genome, mutagenic, and enriched at mutation hotspots in human cancer genomes. Using an innovative mutation-reporter mouse model, we showed that short IRs are mutagenic in vivo. Further, we found that aging exacerbates IR-induced genomic instability, as evidenced by...