Aging & Longevity

Cancer cells in the tumour microenvironment use various mechanisms to evade the immune system, particularly T cell attack¹. For example, metabolic reprogramming in the tumour microenvironment and mitochondrial dysfunction in tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) impair antitumour immune responses^(2-4). However, detailed mechanisms of such processes remain unclear. Here we analyse clinical specimens and identify mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in TILs that are shared with cancer cells....

Cis-regulatory elements (CREs) control gene expression and are dynamic in their structure and function, reflecting changes in the composition of diverse effector proteins over time¹. However, methods for measuring the organization of effector proteins at CREs across the genome are limited, hampering efforts to connect CRE structure to their function in cell fate and disease. Here we developed PRINT, a computational method that identifies footprints of DNA-protein interactions from bulk and...

Female mammalian cells have two X chromosomes, one of maternal origin and one of paternal origin. During development, one X chromosome randomly becomes inactivated^(1-4). This renders either the maternal X (X(m)) chromosome or the paternal X (X(p)) chromosome inactive, causing X mosaicism that varies between female individuals, with some showing considerable or complete skew of the X chromosome that remains active^(5-7). Parent-of-X origin can modify epigenetics through DNA methylation^(8,9) and...

Oxygen is essential for human life, yet a growing body of preclinical research is demonstrating that chronic continuous hypoxia can be beneficial in models of mitochondrial disease, autoimmunity, ischemia, and aging. This research is revealing exciting new and unexpected facets of oxygen biology, but translating these findings to patients poses major challenges, because hypoxia can be dangerous. Overcoming these barriers will require integrating insights from basic science, high-altitude...

In a super-aging society, the increase in the elderly population is closely tied to a rise in infectious diseases due to factors such as weakened immune systems and decreased vaccine efficacy in older adults. Various opportunistic pathogens commonly encountered in everyday life can cause infections and diseases when an individual's immune defence is weakened due to aging. These factors underscore the importance of preventive measures against pathogenic infections and the aging of immune systems...

Blink-related oscillations (BROs) are newly discovered neurophysiological brainwave responses associated with spontaneous blinking, and represent environmental monitoring and awareness processes as the brain evaluates new visual information appearing after eye re-opening. BRO responses have been demonstrated in healthy young adults across multiple task states and are modulated by both task and environmental factors, but little is known about this phenomenon in aging. To address this, we...

A metabolic switch enables hepatocytes in damaged livers to escape senescence and form tumors.

Telomeres are hypersensitive to the formation of the common oxidative lesion 8-oxoguanine (8oxoG), which impacts telomere stability and function. OGG1 and MUTYH glycosylases initiate base excision repair (BER) to remove 8oxoG or prevent mutation. Here, we show OGG1 loss or inhibition, or MUTYH loss, partially rescues telomeric 8oxoG-induced premature senescence and associated proinflammatory responses, while loss of both glycosylases causes a near complete rescue in human fibroblasts....

Precipitation is an important factor influencing the date of foliar senescence, which in turn affects carbon uptake of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the temporal patterns of precipitation frequency and its impact on foliar senescence date remain largely unknown. Using both long-term carbon flux data and satellite observations across the Northern Hemisphere, we show that, after excluding impacts from of temperature, radiation and total precipitation by partial correlation analysis, declining...

CONCLUSIONS: This study has brought to light the higher risk of anxiety among community-dwelling older adults compared to institutionalized older adults. Targeted interventions are, therefore emphasized to address the negative impact of anxiety for populations at higher risk.

CONCLUSIONS: Involving diverse stakeholders from the early stages of technology development enhanced the relevance and acceptability of unobtrusive sensing solutions. This study highlights the importance of integrating public perspectives into the design process. For successful implementation, developers of healthcare technologies should prioritize privacy, usability, and clear communication with end-users and caregivers.

From molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of melt-quenching and thermal aging procedures in pure Ag, Cu, Ag-Cu binary alloys, and Cu-Zr binary alloys, we have identified two distinct amorphous phases for a metastable undercooled liquid: the homogeneous L-phase with low shear rigidity and the heterogenous G-phase with much higher shear rigidity and a heterogeneity length scale Λ. Here, we examine two-phase equilibration studies showing that the G-phase melts to form the L-phase above ~1,000 K,...

INTRODUCTION: Growing aging populations pose new challenges to public health as the number of people living with dementia grows in tandem. To alleviate the burden of dementia, prodromal signs of cognitive impairment must be recognized and risk factors reduced. In this context, non-invasive techniques may be used to identify early changes and monitor disease progression. Dynamic retinal vessel analysis (DVA) provides an opportunity to measure retinal vasoreactivity in a way that may be comparable...

Aging (as old man wind) alters the trajectory of cancer (dangerous seas) through changes in the immune system and metabolism (among many others), leading to altered cancer epidemiology, pathogenesis, and therapeutic responses, as represented by the research areas (boats)-artwork by Michael DeGregori.

Evidence suggests that anthropogenic climate change is accelerating and is affecting human health globally. Despite urgent calls to address health effects in the context of the additional challenges of environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and ageing populations, the effects of climate change on specific health conditions are still poorly understood. Neurological diseases contribute substantially to the global burden of disease, and the possible direct and indirect consequences of climate...

Advances in imaging diagnostics, surgical techniques and transcatheter interventions for paediatric patients with severe congenital heart disease (CHD) have substantially reduced mortality, thereby extending the lifespan of these individuals and increasing the number of adults with complex CHD. Transcatheter interventions have emerged as an alternative to traditional open-heart surgery to mitigate congenital defects. The evolution of techniques, the introduction of new devices and the growing...

Aging phenotype is characterized by musculoskeletal impairment that leads to diminished mobility and physical function. This study investigated whether circulating miRNAs and metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers may reflect the walking performance of the elderly. Elderly hospitalized for an acute condition and recruited from the ReportAge Biobank were grouped, based on their walking performance, in active subjects (n = 23, age: 83.0 ± 4.3), able to walk ≥ 1 km and who performed more than 1 h...

CONCLUSIONS: This scoping review summarises the evidence landscape for rehabilitation, reablement, and restorative care approaches in the context of aged care. Despite their role in enhancing independence and quality of life for older people, policy, funding, and terminology variation means the evidence lacks clarity. This fragmented evidence makes it challenging to argue the effectiveness of one approach over another for older people in receipt of aged care services.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study sheds light on an alternative mode of TE silencing associated with H3K27me3 instead of DNA methylation in flowering plants. It also suggests dynamic switching between the two epigenetic marks at the species level, a new paradigm that might extend to other multicellular eukaryotes.

Sarcopenia is an age-related muscle disorder that increases risks of adverse clinical outcomes, but its treatments are still limited. Gut microbiota is potentially associated with sarcopenia, and its role is still unclear. To investigate the role of gut microbiota in sarcopenia, we first compared gut microbiota and metabolites composition in old participants with or without sarcopenia. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from human donors to antibiotic-treated recipient mice was then...