Aging & Longevity

Hydrogen sulfide is a gasotransmitter with biological functions, including roles in antioxidant defenses, mitochondrial bioenergetics, and cellular signaling via cysteine persulfidation. Several longevity-promoting interventions enhance endogenous hydrogen sulfide generation. However, whether enhanced hydrogen sulfide generation extends healthspan and lifespan in mammals remains unknown. Here, we investigated the in vivo effects of the non-enzymatic hydrogen sulfide generation promoted by...

Aging increases the risk of neurodegeneration, cognitive decline, and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We report that plasma concentrations of ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1) and neurofilament light (NfL) become exponentially higher from ages 2 to 85 in cross-sectional samples, serving as neuronal death/damage biomarkers across the lifespan. UCH-L1 concentrations rise faster in females, who exhibit increased AD risk. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) concentrations increase...

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: A long sleep duration (≥9 hours) is a risk factor for a decline in walking speed among men aged 60 years and older. Routine assessment of sleep duration in primary care provides a low-cost, scalable strategy to identify older adults at risk and guide early interventions aimed at maintaining mobility and independence, especially among older men.

CONCLUSIONS: In later life, being frail does not necessarily imply low IC, and vice versa. Frailty and low IC identify different groups in early older age, but the overlap between them becomes more pronounced with increasing age. Comprehensive assessment of ageing therefore requires measures that capture both vulnerability to decline and capacity.

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling is crucial for energy security, environmental sustainability, and economic viability, as the finite lifespan of LIBs results in a significant annual accumulation of spent units. However, effectively and precisely recovering valuable metal ions such as Li^(+), Mn^(2+), Ni^(2+) and Co^(2+) from complex LIB leaching solutions remains a major challenge. Here, we present a scalable electro-membrane crystallization-assisted general recycling (e-MCGR) technology for...

White adipose tissue (WAT) is the primary energy storage organ and can be categorized mainly into subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT). Although all WAT accumulates triglycerides to store excess energy, VAT is associated with pathological conditions, whereas SAT is considered beneficial for metabolic health. In fact, SAT and VAT are from distinct developmental origins. Moreover, within these depots, there is heterogeneity in developmental origin and in adipose...

CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that plasma metabolomics, particularly amino acid and lipid metabolism, were associated with EAA and aging. The "cysteine and methionine metabolism" pathway emerged as a potential mechanism of aging, and may underpin metabolic alterations during the aging process, and its metabolites, such as methionine, 5-methylthioadenosine, and α-ketobutyrate, may serve as intervention targets.

This study examines the relationship between depression and clinical functioning among cognitively normal (CN) and mildly cognitively impaired (MCI) older adults, with a specific focus on cross-ethnic comparisons between Hispanic and White non-Hispanic (WNH) populations. Despite a significant body of research linking depression to cognitive decline, limited studies have explored how this relationship differs across ethnic groups. Using data from the 1Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center...

CONCLUSIONS: Among older adults in China, lifestyles only mediate a small proportion of frailty disparities in overall survival; consequently, without direct interventions for frailty or additional favorable measures, promoting healthy lifestyles alone is insufficient to significantly reduce frailty disparities in survival. Furthermore, individuals of frailty and unhealthy lifestyles experience significantly shorter survival, highlighting the urgent need for targeted interventions for this...

CONCLUSION: This study offers a culturally nuanced understanding of AIP, challenging the notion that 'place' is solely a physical or geographical location. It highlights the significance of social connectedness, emotional security, digital participation, and the desire to avoid institutional care. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners, underscoring the need to design ageing policies and care practices that address not only physical housing but also social...

We previously established distinct roles for the transcriptional elongation factors PAF1, negative elongation factor (NELF), SPT4/5, and SPT6 using auxin-inducible degron systems in human cell lines. Here, we integrate long- and short-read RNA-seq data from these degron lines to quantify transcript isoform usage at single-molecule resolution, identifying elongation factor-specific RNA processing regulons, including a cellular senescence-enriched regulon impacted by NELF and SPT6. Long-term NELF...

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as pivotal regulators driving cancer development and potential therapeutic targets across multiple human malignancies. However, their mechanistic roles during head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) initiation and progression remain incompletely elucidated. Here, we identified a novel oncogenic lncRNA, LINC00973, which was aberrantly upregulated in clinical samples and associated with aggressive clinicopathological features and adverse clinical...

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), which is associated with changes in microglia function. While age remains the biggest risk factor, the underlying molecular cause of PD onset and its concurrent neuroinflammation are not well understood. Many identified PD risk genes have been directly linked to dopamine neuron impairment, while others are linked to immune cell function. In this study, we found that the PD...

Aging clocks use machine learning to estimate biological age as a proxy for general health state. Here, we critically examine their practical value, highlighting fundamental challenges: abstract definitions, inconsistent clinical validation, and ignored prediction uncertainty. By comparing aging clocks with expert risk scores, direct outcome predictors, and emerging large health models, we question their benefits and encourage researchers to explicitly justify clock advantage over established...

Black rice diets are enriched with unsaturated fatty acids that are thought to be beneficial for neurodegenerative disorders in aging. Here we find that α-linolenic acid (ALA) and 11,14-eicosadienoic acid (EDA), which are naturally enriched in black rice, inhibit amyloid pathology, rescue cognition and extend lifespan in mouse preclinical models of Alzheimer's disease via allosteric activation of G protein-coupled receptor 120 (GPR120) in plaque-associated macrophages and activated microglia. We...

Normal aging triggers substantial topological transformation within resting-state electroencephalography (rs-EEG) networks. Given that the small-world (SW) architecture of hemispheric EEG networks may reflect an evolutionarily and developmentally optimized organization, investigating their modulations with age offers critical insights into the dynamic reorganization of functional connectivity (FC) patterns throughout adulthood. Utilizing rs-EEG data from a single-site public repository collected...

CONCLUSIONS: This large-scale study reveals a substantial burden of dementia in the studied Iranian provinces. The identified risk factors, including female sex, advanced age, widowhood, and low education, highlight vulnerable subgroups and underscore the urgent need for targeted public health strategies focused on early detection, risk reduction, and support systems for the elderly in Iran.

Centrifugation of biological matter in density gradient solutions is a standard method for separating cell types or components. It is also used to separate red blood cells (RBCs) by age, as they lose water and become denser over their lifespan. When the density gradient is prepared with Percoll, discrete bands of RBCs are systematically observed along the gradient, despite the continuous density distribution of RBCs. Early studies suggested that cell aggregation might influence spatial...

Aging disrupts intestinal stem cell (ISC) lineage fidelity, impairing epithelial barrier function and then promoting systemic health decline. In this study, we identify peroxisomal dysfunction as a critical driver of age-associated ISC mis-differentiation. Using Drosophila and mouse colonic organoids, we demonstrate that reduced PEX5 expression in aged ISCs impairs peroxisomal matrix protein import, leading to very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) accumulation. In addition, we found that...

Topoisomerase III-beta (Top3b) reduces nucleic acid torsional stress and intertwining generated during RNA and DNA metabolism while protecting the genome from pathological R-loops, which otherwise result in DNA breakage and genome instability. By studying Top3b knockout mice (Top3b-KO), we find that the loss of Top3b accelerates the development of spontaneous atypical lymphoid hyperplasia and lymphomas arising in spleens and lymph nodes, organs with prominent Top3b expression. Aging Top3b-KO...