Aggregator
Human tau pathology is associated with lonely, nontraveling slow waves linked to memory impairment
Memory markedly declines with age, exaggerated in those with Alzheimer's disease, yet the mechanisms are still not resolved. Here we show that frontal lobe tau pathology in humans is associated with impaired en masse unity and cortical traveling propagation of nonrapid eye movement slow waves, linked to impaired memory retention. We elucidate these findings using positron-emission tomography tau brain imaging, and then replicate and extend them using Alzheimer's disease pathology markers derived...
Joint impact of pathological burden and cognitive resilience on Alzheimer's disease risk
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is conventionally framed as a consequence of progressive amyloid-β and tau pathology, yet substantial heterogeneity in cognitive outcome at any given level of pathological burden indicates that cognitive resilience constitutes a parallel determinant of disease risk. Here we test whether pathology and resilience function as independent and synergistic dimensions of incident AD dementia. In 3,119 older adults from the China Cognition and Aging Study, followed for a median...
Fibronectin mediates APOE4-driven blood-brain barrier dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease
Blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction is an early feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is particularly pronounced in individuals carrying the APOE ε4 allele, but the mechanisms linking APOE ε4 to BBB failure remain unclear. Here we show that astrocyte-derived fibronectin (FN1) is a key mediator of apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4)-driven BBB dysfunction in AD. Using postmortem human brain tissue, human three-dimensional vascular models and in vivo models, we demonstrate that APOE4, amyloid-β42 and...
Rethinking Senescence Hallmarks in the Brain: Lessons From Peripheral Tissues and Challenges in Defining Neuronal Senescence
Cellular senescence is increasingly recognized as a fundamental driver of aging and age-related diseases. Studies in peripheral tissues have revealed that senescence is not a uniform cellular state, but a highly heterogeneous phenotype shaped by distinct combinations of DNA damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, chromatin remodeling, impaired proteostasis, and diverse senescence-associated secretory phenotype. This heterogeneity critically influences both the identification and therapeutic targeting...
Joint impact of pathological burden and cognitive resilience on Alzheimer's disease risk
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is conventionally framed as a consequence of progressive amyloid-β and tau pathology, yet substantial heterogeneity in cognitive outcome at any given level of pathological burden indicates that cognitive resilience constitutes a parallel determinant of disease risk. Here we test whether pathology and resilience function as independent and synergistic dimensions of incident AD dementia. In 3,119 older adults from the China Cognition and Aging Study, followed for a median...
Cancer treatment alters mutant selection in normal esophagus
Aging epithelial tissues, including the esophagus, are colonized by somatic mutant clones under strong competitive selection. The effect of cancer treatment on mutant selection in normal epithelium is unknown. We hypothesized that some mutant clones may be selectively expanded during treatment. To test this, we sequenced normal esophageal epithelium removed from 70 patients after therapy for esophageal cancer. Patients received either no treatment, combination chemotherapy (FLOT, ECX or EOX) or...
European Innovation Council support for healthy aging biotechnology
No abstract
Osteoporosis affects millions: could modified cells rebuild their bones?
No abstract
Clonal Mosaicism of Mitochondrial DNA Heteroplasmy as a Molecular Clock of Aging
The accumulation of somatic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations across life is among the oldest and most debated proposed drivers of aging. A defining, counter-intuitive feature is that individual mutant molecules, although vanishingly rare when they arise, can come to dominate a cell's multi-copy mtDNA population through intracellular clonal expansion, producing a mosaic of respiratory-deficient cells across aging tissues. Here we synthesize current evidence to argue that clonal mosaicism of...
Astragaloside IV attenuates hypoxia-reoxygenation-induced endothelial senescence and vascular inflammation by modulating the NOTCH1/VCAM-1 axis
CONCLUSION: AS-IV alleviates HR-induced endothelial senescence by modulating the Notch1/VCAM-1 axis. Our data suggest that AS-IV does not merely inhibit Notch1 but acts by modulating its signaling toward a protective equilibrium, thereby attenuating endothelial senescence and inflammation associated with the restoration of Notch1/VCAM-1 signaling balance. These findings highlight the potential of AS-IV as a therapeutic candidate for AD vascular pathology.
Rethinking Senescence Hallmarks in the Brain: Lessons From Peripheral Tissues and Challenges in Defining Neuronal Senescence
Cellular senescence is increasingly recognized as a fundamental driver of aging and age-related diseases. Studies in peripheral tissues have revealed that senescence is not a uniform cellular state, but a highly heterogeneous phenotype shaped by distinct combinations of DNA damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, chromatin remodeling, impaired proteostasis, and diverse senescence-associated secretory phenotype. This heterogeneity critically influences both the identification and therapeutic targeting...
Exploring TIMP2 genetics and CSF levels in Parkinson's disease: biomarkers of neurodegeneration and ageing
CONCLUSIONS: CSF TIMP2 levels primarily reflect ageing-related processes associated with neurodegeneration rather than disease-specific effects. Genetic variation in TIMP2 may contribute to clinical heterogeneity. These findings support a role of extracellular matrix-related ageing mechanisms in PD and related disorders.
Impact of caloric restriction on biological aging: insights from a composite biomarker index in older adults
Caloric restriction (CR) extends lifespan and delays age-related diseases in model organisms, yet its effects on biological aging in humans remain unclear. We pooled data from seven randomized CR trials (n = 829) and examined randomization to CR and change in weight with a biomarker index composed of CRP, IL-6, cystatin C, insulin, GDF-15, and TNF-R1. CR improved the composite biomarker index. The effect of CR decreased from -2.2 to -1.2 (95% CI -2.0 to -0.3) after adjustment for weight, while...
Individual Differences in Cognitive Aging Rodent Datasets (ID-CARD): A collaborative platform for behavioral analysis across the lifespan
Understanding cognitive aging requires approaches that capture individual variability while enabling integration across studies. In rodent models, behavioral data are central to this effort, yet cross-laboratory differences in experimental design limit comparability and constrain secondary analysis. To address this gap, we developed the Individual Differences in Cognitive Aging Rodent Datasets (ID-CARD), a first-of-its-kind collaborative repository aggregating trial-level Morris water maze data...
Detecting dynamic pathways and risk indicators of resilience, vulnerability and stability in normally aging females and males: Integrating data-driven longitudinal and machine learning analyses
Resilience has become an integral component of theory and research in brain aging. Recent frameworks have provided guidelines for identifying and investigating resilience in the context of diversity (e.g., sex and risk exposure differences). We leverage a multi-factorial longitudinal approach to operationalize and predict pathways of resilience, stability and vulnerability as a function of differential within-person trajectory patterns of hippocampal volume and cognitive change. Participants...
Epigenetic clocks and accelerated biological aging in people living with HIV: Emerging mechanisms and clinical implications
CONCLUSION: Epigenetic clocks may improve the assessment of biological aging in people living with HIV and could support risk stratification, early identification of frailty, and evaluation of interventions. However, longitudinal validation, standardized methods, adjustment for immune-cell composition, and evidence linking clock changes with meaningful clinical outcomes are required before these biomarkers can be used routinely in HIV care.
Proteomic signatures of systemic inflammation in aging, multimorbidity, and mortality
CONCLUSION: PIS provides a compact, interpretable proteomic measure of inflammaging and captures mortality, multisystem disease burden, and aging-related biology in population-scale cohorts.
Metabolism licenses the senescence secretome
No abstract
Scientists find a way to break pancreatic cancer’s protective shield
Researchers found that blocking IL1RAP could disrupt a powerful inflammatory network that helps pancreatic cancer survive treatment. In preclinical experiments, the approach reduced tumor-protecting cells and fibrosis while boosting the activity of cancer-fighting T cells. That could make chemotherapy and immunotherapy more effective.
The secret to longer life may be hidden in bat DNA
Long-lived bats appear to combine powerful immune defenses with unusual strategies for eliminating damaged cells, potentially helping them avoid cancer and disease for decades. Researchers hope these genetic tricks could eventually reveal new ways to protect human health during aging.