Aggregator
Erzhi pills: a potential aging-modulating agent targeting immunosenescence in mice
Erzhi Pills (EZP), a traditional Chinese herbal formula, has demonstrated potential aging-modulating properties, while its mechanisms in modulating immunosenescence remain incompletely understood. Two complementary aging murine models were employed to investigate the anti-immunosenescence efficacy of EZP, providing experimental validation for its translational application in delaying age-related immune decline. Morphological and physiological parameters were monitored and thymic/splenic organ...
The protective role of companion animal ownership in cognitive aging: current status of the literature
Cognitive aging reflects underlying biological aging processes and is a key driver of late-life functional outcomes. Emerging evidence indicates that cohabitation with companion animals may influence multiple systemic pathways involved in cognitive aging, yet this potentially modifiable lifestyle factor remains underrecognized. The present narrative review synthesizes current evidence on how companion animals may influence cognitive aging through multilevel pathways, including both direct...
Earth’s oldest crystals suggest an early start for plate tectonics
‘No one quite like her’: meet the female colleagues who inspire these award-winning women in science
AI agents are ‘aeroplanes for the mind’: five ways to ensure that scientists are responsible pilots
Audio long read: Many people have no mental imagery. What’s going on in their brains?
BCDX2–CX3 and DX2–CX3 complexes assemble and stabilize RAD51 filaments
Author Correction: Root microbiota drive direct integration of phosphate stress and immunity
Exercise alleviates cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease mice via skeletal muscle-derived extracellular vesicles that enhance plaque clearance by microglia
OMICmAge is a multiomic biological aging clock using electronic medical records
The hidden lives behind China’s great Internet firewall
The squeal of peeling tape, explained
Meet three scientists who said no to Epstein
The warning signs included a web search, a mother’s doubts, and inklings of a “sexist attitude”
Proteostasis, disease and the ageing neuron: Compartmental complexity in non-renewing cells
Proteostasis, the maintenance of protein homeostasis, is a critical cellular process for neuronal health that declines with age, contributing to neurodegenerative disease. This review examines the molecular architecture of the proteostasis network, how this is disrupted in ageing neurons, and its impact on neuronal function. We discuss unique challenges posed by the complexity arising from distinct neuronal compartments with distinct functions, as well as neurons' high energy demands, and...
Asymmetric synthesis of Heteroatom-bridged [3.2.1]Octane scaffolds via enantioselective β-H elimination reaction
N-bridged [3.2.1]octanes (tropanes) and their related bridged bicyclic systems constitute highly sought-after scaffolds in drug discovery and development. Notably, the enantioselective synthesis of chiral 3-aryltropanes which are compounds widely distributed across bioactive pharmaceutical agents remains underdeveloped. Tropinone is a readily available and cost-effective starting material. By initiating the synthesis from tropinone, it is possible to substantially lower the synthesis costs. Here...
Conditional BCL-2 Expression in Fibroblasts Promotes Persistent Pulmonary Fibrosis which is Reversible by Therapeutic BCL-2 Inhibition
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive, fatal lung disease that develops in response to chronic epithelial injury. Unlike injury-induced homeostatic lung repair during which fibroblasts undergo apoptosis and clearance, the lungs of IPF patients continue to accumulate apoptosis-resistant, pro-fibrotic, extracellular matrix-producing fibroblasts. Here, we show that prevention of PDGFRα^(+) fibroblast apoptosis by conditional BCL-2 expression leads to the emergence and persistence of...
Targeting NAT10 alleviates colonic senescence and elderly-onset colitis by disrupting N4-acetylation of DYRK1A
Intestinal aging characterized by imbalance between cell senescence and mucosal self-renewal, increases susceptibility to the elderly-onset ulcerative colitis (UC), while the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we identify mRNA N4-acetylcytidine (ac⁴C) modification and its specific writer, N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10), as critical regulators of human colonic epithelial cell senescence. Knockdown of NAT10 significantly alleviates human colonic epithelial cell senescence in vitro and...
Spontaneous speech enables scalable digital phenotyping of physical functional deficits in aging
The rising global burden of pathological aging engenders an urgent need for accessible tools enabling early detection of physical decline, which significantly impacts quality of life and healthcare systems. We hypothesized that speech analysis could capture phenotype-specific signatures of physical deterioration through shared neuromuscular pathways, offering a novel approach to physical assessment. In this study, we employed machine learning to analyze multimodal speech features (acoustic,...
Stochastic misfolding drives the emergence of distinct α-synuclein strains
α-Synuclein conformational strains provide a potential explanation for the clinical and pathological differences among synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy. However, how distinct α-synuclein strains arise remains unknown. Here, we observed conformational heterogeneity between individual preparations of α-synuclein pre-formed fibrils (PFFs) generated by polymerizing wild-type or A53T-mutant human α-synuclein under identical conditions. Moreover, we found that...
Epidemiological trends and cross-country inequalities in the global burden of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in postmenopausal women from 1990 to 2021
CONCLUSIONS: From 1990 to 2021, there was an overall upward trend in the global burden of ADOD among postmenopausal women. Driven by demographic shifts (population growth and aging) and metabolic risks (particularly high fasting plasma glucose), the burden of postmenopausal women with ADOD is expected to increase substantially. Postmenopausal women in higher SDI countries bore a disproportionately higher ADOD burden, and the SDI-related inequalities among countries widened during the study...