Aging & Longevity

Double emulsions, comprising an aqueous droplet enclosed within an oil shell, hold great potential as versatile microcompartments for a variety of applications. However, their widespread utility is often limited by inherent instability and uncontrolled water transport. In this study, we use droplet microfluidics to prepare double emulsions with uniform thin oil shells stabilized by mixed surfactant systems. By combining monomeric and polymeric surfactants, we demonstrate that polymeric...

The circadian clocks of the cell orchestrate a daily transcriptional rhythm that schedules key activities of the cell to maintain homeostasis and support resilience. Circadian rhythm is driven by the periodic oscillations of transcriptional activators and translational repressors, occurring in both the central and peripheral clocks. Accumulating evidence shows that aging impairs the functional synchrony of the circadian system which further escalate age-related disorders. In addition, the...

A major challenge in multimorbid aging is understanding how diseases co-occur and identifying high-risk groups for accelerated disease development, but to date associations in the relative onset acceleration of disease diagnoses have not been used to characterize disease patterns. This study presents the development and evaluation of a neural network Cox model for predicting onset acceleration risk for age-associated conditions, using demographic, anthropomorphic, imaging, and blood biomarker...

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is primarily recognized for its role in cholesterol metabolism; however, emerging evidence suggests it plays a broader role in the regulation of cellular aging mechanisms and the pathogenesis of age-related diseases. Given that cancer is an age-related disease, PCSK9 has garnered attention for its potential impact on tumor progression and patient survival. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of PCSK9 expression across...

CONCLUSIONS: This assessment highlights JAHF's role of catalyst, collaborator, and convener. JAHF's approach to grantmaking-including mission alignment, commitment, flexibility, active engagement, and focus on collaboration-contributed to the impact achieved by grantees.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) defines healthy ageing as the process of developing and maintaining functional ability, comprising an individual's intrinsic capacity, the environment and the interaction of the two. The framework is based on a positive approach to ageing, giving value to the resources individuals can rely upon as they age and that they can build their physical, mental and social health, and overall well-being. To promote healthy ageing, it is important to understand better...

CONCLUSIONS: The CHEES exhibits good reliability and validity; therefore, it can be used as a reliable tool for evaluating the physical resilience of older adults in community settings.

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Eukaryotic life evolved over a billion years ago when ancient cells engulfed and integrated prokaryotes to become modern mitochondria and chloroplasts. Sacoglossan "solar-powered" sea slugs possess the ability to acquire organelles within a single lifetime by selectively retaining consumed chloroplasts that remain photosynthetically active for nearly a year. The mechanism for this "animal photosynthesis" remains unknown. Here, we discovered that foreign chloroplasts are housed within novel,...

Exercise has well-established health benefits, yet its molecular underpinnings remain incompletely understood. We conducted an integrated multi-omics analysis to compare the effects of acute vs. long-term exercise in healthy males. Acute exercise induced transient responses, whereas repeated exercise triggered adaptive changes, notably reducing cellular senescence and inflammation and enhancing betaine metabolism. Exercise-driven betaine enrichment, partly mediated by renal biosynthesis, exerts...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the world's fourth highest reason for mortality, accounting for 3.5 million deaths in 2021, and about 5 % of total global deaths. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the two major pathologies of COPD. Tobacco smoke, dust, vapors, and fumes, outdoor air pollutants, genetic factors, ageing, infections, and asthma are the risk factors of COPD. On the other hand, senescence is permanent halt in cell cycle accompanied by phenotypic alterations due to...

Lysosomes are cytoplasmic organelles central for the degradation of macromolecules to maintain cellular homoeostasis and health. However, how lysosomal activity can be boosted to counteract ageing and ageing-related diseases remains elusive. Here we reveal that silencing specific vacuolar H^(+)-ATPase subunits (for example, vha-6), which are essential for intestinal lumen acidification in Caenorhabditis elegans, extends lifespan by ~60%. This longevity phenotype can be explained by an adaptive...

Small non-coding RNAs coordinate essential cellular processes, including gene expression regulation, genome stability maintenance, and transposon suppression. These processes determine aging, lifespan, and resistance of cells and organisms to stress. In this work, we conducted a comprehensive study of the geroprotective effects of overexpression of two Dicer family genes (Dcr-1 and Dcr-2, which are responsible for the biogenesis of miRNAs and siRNAs) in different tissues of Drosophila...

Immune cells navigate through complex tissue architectures by extensive cellular deformation, low adhesion, and high cell velocities. Loss-of-function mutations in Dedicator of Cytokinesis 8 (Dock8) are associated with immunodeficiency as immune cells becoming entangled during migration through dense environments, but their migration on two-dimensional surfaces remains entirely intact. Here we investigated the specific cytoskeletal defect of Dock8-deficient activated T cells and describe a...

α-ketoglutaric acid (AKG), a tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolite central to aerobic metabolism and longevity, retains unresolved anti-aging protein targets. Here, we demonstrate that reduced isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) expression during senescence lowers AKG production, accelerating the aging of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Exogenous AKG or IDH1 overexpression restores AKG levels, enabling 2-oxoglutarate and Fe(II)-dependent oxygenase domain-containing protein 1 (OGFOD1)-catalyzed...

Lipophagy engulfs lipid droplets and delivers them to lysosomes for degradation. We found that lipophagy levels were low in most fly tissues, except for the prothoracic gland (PG) during larval development. Therefore, we performed a small-scale screening in the PG to identify regulators of lipophagy. We discovered that the loss of nmd, a gene encoding a mitochondrial AAA-ATPase, led to developmental failure and reduced lipophagy in the PG. Further studies indicated that nmd was not only required...

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) has emerged as a major organizing principle in cells. Recent work showed that multiple components of integrin-mediated focal adhesions, including p130Cas can form LLPS, which govern adhesion dynamics and related cell behaviors. In this study, we found that the focal adhesion protein p130Cas drives the formation of structures with the characteristics of LLPS that bud from focal adhesions into the cytoplasm. Condensing concentrated cytoplasm around...

Lens epithelial cell (LEC) senescence is one of the key pathological processes of age-related cataract (ARC) and is associated with oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and protein aggregation. This study aimed to elucidate the pathogenesis of LEC senescence in ARC. The protein expression level of silencing regulatory protein 1 (SIRT1) and aptamer protein (p66Shc) was quantified. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial superoxide levels were measured to evaluate cellular...

As organisms age, somatic stem cells progressively lose their ability to sustain tissue homeostasis and support regeneration. Although stem cells are relatively shielded from some cellular aging mechanisms compared with their differentiated progeny, they remain vulnerable to both intrinsic and extrinsic stressors. In this review, we delineate five cardinal features that characterize aged stem cells and examine how these alterations underlie functional decline across well-studied stem cell...