Aging & Longevity

Skin aging is a multifactorial process influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including cellular senescence, photoaging, glycation, and impaired wound healing, all of which begin at birth. Recent epigenetic research has identified non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), particularly microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), as key regulators of gene networks governing skin homeostasis, regeneration, and aging. However, the literature remains fragmented, lacking...

Population aging has become a global challenge, with its molecular mechanisms incompletely understood. The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a pleiotropic cytoplasmic transcription factor, is extensively involved in almost all hallmarks of aging, exhibiting paradoxical dual roles in senescence progression. This review summarizes the structure of STAT3 and its key posttranslational modifications (PTMs), including phosphorylation (Y705, S727), acetylation, and...

Lumbar multifidus (MF) muscle plays a key role in spinal stability, yet its adaptations to aging and disuse, which become increasingly prevalent with advancing age, remain unclear. We conducted two studies to investigate age- and inactivity-induced changes in MF size. In Study 1, we assessed 32 young adults (50% females) and 75 older adults (67% females), categorized as non-sarcopenic (NS) or probable sarcopenic (PS) based on EWGSOP2 criteria. In Study 2, we examined early MF responses to 10-day...

Interventional therapy and surgery play important roles in the treatment of various diseases, but they cause varying degrees of vascular injury. Currently, the side effects are often overlooked. Here, we observed abnormal nuclear morphology (nuclear dysmorphism) and vascular aging in injured human and rodent arteries. Platelet-derived microvesicles (PMVs) adhere to injured blood vessels, leading to nuclear dysmorphism and cell senescence in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). This occurs...

Previous studies from our lab identified functional defects in antigen-specific peripheral T follicular helper cells (pTfh), characterized by low IL-21 and high IL-2 production, contributing to non-responsiveness to the influenza vaccine in both aging and HIV. This study investigated how IL-21-induced STAT3 and IL-2-induced STAT5 activation in pTfh cells affects vaccine responses in aging people with HIV (PWH) and those without HIV (PWoH). Ninety participants, including young (Y, ≤ 40 years) and...

Pregnancy functions as a "stress test" with implications for women's long-term health. We hypothesize that maternal biological aging, measured by epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), can be influenced by one-carbon nutritional status (folate, vitamin B₁₂, homocysteine), adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and prenatal multivitamin use. We analyzed data from 742 mothers enrolled in the Boston Birth Cohort (1998-2013). EAA was defined as the difference between the Levine epigenetic clock-DNA...

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Although growing evidence links chronic inflammation with increased cancer risk, the association between psoriasis and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is still elusive. Using cell transplantation and chemical-induced models of cSCC combined with inducible genetically engineered mouse models of psoriasis, we investigated how chronic skin and systemic inflammation affects squamous skin tumor...

Potassium is vital for life, yet how potassium homeostasis is maintained at the tissue or organismal level under dietary scarcity remains poorly understood. Stress-activated signaling pathway p38 MAPK is implicated in immune response and aging, but its specific role in low potassium response is unclear. Here we show that a specific p38 MAPK-ATF-7 pathway orchestrates cross-tissue potassium homeostasis in Caenorhabditis elegans. It drives transcriptional upregulation of a crucial P-type ATPase...

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Sarcopenia-particularly impaired physical performance-was associated with incident depression in older adults, with clinically meaningful sex-specific patterns. Incorporating simple physical performance measures into routine geriatric assessments may help identify individuals at high risk of late-life depression.

Ischemic cerebrovascular events are among the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, disproportionately affecting the elderly due to vascular aging, oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation. During cerebral ischemia, oxygen and glucose deprivation trigger a cascade of pathological events, including excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, blood-brain barrier disruption, and neuroinflammation. Emerging evidence identifies Klotho as a multifunctional protein with anti-aging,...

Aging disrupts systemic metabolism, but the mechanisms by which gut microbial metabolites drive tissue-specific decline remain unclear. We conducted a multi-organ, multi-omics atlas across the gut, serum, liver, lung, and cortex in young and early-aged mice to address this. We identified a conserved aging signature marked by the microbiota-associated depletion of protective circulating metabolites, such as lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs), concurrently with the systemic accumulation of...

No abstract

Obesity and aging are converging health challenges, contributing to morbidity in older populations. However, the specific contribution of age to susceptibility to obesity is unclear. This study examined the impact of age on susceptibility to diet-induced obesity (DIO) and calorie restriction (CR) in male mice. Young (2-3 months) and old (17-24 months) lean C57BL/6J male mice were fed a standard chow diet (CD) or a high-fat diet (HFD) for 28 days, then underwent 18 days of CR. We monitored body...

Twenty years have passed since the first demonstration of mouse induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). What began as an unexpected observation in Kyoto quickly transformed stem cell biology and regenerative medicine worldwide. Over the past two decades, we have gained profound insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying cellular reprogramming and pluripotency. The technology has continued to evolve-becoming safer, more efficient, and more versatile. Today, iPSCs serve as a foundation for...

Somatic mutations, or genetic changes occurring in cells after conception, are widespread in healthy tissues but are conventionally viewed as signs of pre-cancer or simply a consequence of aging. However, an emerging body of work has shown that somatic mutations can drive or protect against disease, which could inspire novel therapeutic strategies. The unexpected depth of genetic diversity within individuals also provides a massive substrate for discovering mutant genes selected for by disease....

This study aims to explore the shared transcriptomic features of caloric restriction (CR) and endurance exercise in skeletal muscle among older adults. As age increases, muscle atrophy gradually becomes a common issue of functional decline in the elderly. Utilizing bioinformatics analysis, this research identified 101 overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in both CR and endurance exercise. These genes are primarily enriched in key biological pathways related to longevity,...

No abstract

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is an age-related degenerative spinal disorder, with age as the primary independent risk factor. To investigate the key pathogenic mechanisms of IVDD, we conducted biochemical analyses on IVD specimens from elderly and young groups. In this study, we found that methylmalonic acid (MMA) levels are significantly elevated within the discs of the elderly group, suggesting that MMA may be a critical metabolite involved in aging-induced IVDD. In in vitro...

Neurodegenerative diseases are strongly associated with aging and oxidative stress, underscoring the need for natural compounds that promote healthy aging. The mycosporine-like amino acid (MAA) "palythine", a photoprotective metabolite, exhibits promising bioactivity in mitigating age-related decline. Ultraviolet-B (UV-B, 280-315 nm) radiation is a major inducer of DNA damage, oxidative stress and apoptosis, all of which accelerate aging. In this study, we investigated the effects of palythine...

No abstract