Aging & Longevity

The redox theory of aging proposes that an oxidative imbalance, possibly amplified by infection, drives senescence. We experimentally evolved mosquitoes under early or late reproduction with or without parasite exposure, and quantified longevity, fecundity, and redox markers. Although selection generated the expected life-history divergence, there was only a poor, non-linear association between a redox gradient and longevity. Thus, oxidative stress contributed to, but did not determine, the...

Vascular dysfunction, including endothelial cell (EC) senescence and hypertension, is a hallmark of metabolic syndrome, yet its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that metabolic stress upregulates regulated in development and DNA damage response 1 (REDD1), driving vascular dysfunction. Overexpression of REDD1, but not the REDD1^(KK219/220AA) mutant, which cannot activate atypical NF-κB, promotes EC senescence and hypertension through NF-κB-dependent induction of miR-155-5p and...

Senescent cells (SnCs) are increasingly recognized as key contributors to osteoarthritis, with conventional strategies centered on their elimination. However, senolytic approaches face mounting limitations, driving the need for refined interventions. Here, we exploit SnCs' lipid metabolic signature to develop a senotherapeutic strategy. Given the universal lipid accumulation in SnCs and the dual role of lipids as both metabolic liabilities and essential lubricants, we engineer an injectable...

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Normal aging leads to regional vascular and neural alterations. Age-related impairments in neurovascular coupling (NVC) affect the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) hemodynamic response function (HRF) measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging, causing changes in both amplitude and temporal dynamics. Previously, global, systematic age-related changes in HRF characteristics were demonstrated, consistent with known microvascular aging effects. In this follow-up study, a standard space...

In this meet-the-author Q&A, Scientific Editor Sara Rohban and Editor-in-Chief Laura Zahn speak with Junyue Cao about his Cell Genomics paper. He discusses his ambitions to study aging and how his newly developed method, EnrichSci, was used to look at changes over time in oligodendrocytes in the brain.

Aging is associated with oxidative stress, but specific druggable pathways remain elusive. Here, we define a conserved iron-lipid axis driving primate aging, termed "ferro-aging." Multi-tissue profiling in humans and non-human primates reveals age-progressive iron accumulation, fueling chronic lipid peroxidation orchestrated by acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4). Distinct from acute ferroptosis, this ACSL4-mediated process promotes cellular senescence and...

Aging is a major risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases, yet the underlying epigenetic mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we generated a comprehensive single-nucleus cell atlas of brain aging across multiple brain regions, comprising 132,551 single-cell methylomes and 72,666 joint chromatin conformation-methylome nuclei. Integration with companion transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility data yielded a cross-modality taxonomy of 36 major cell types. We observed that transposable element (TE)...

Mitochondrial disease encompasses inherited disorders affecting mitochondrial function. A severe and untreatable form of mitochondrial disease is Leigh syndrome (LS), causing psychomotor regression and metabolic crises. To accelerate drug discovery for LS, we screen a library of 5,632 repurposable compounds in neural cells from LS-patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We identify phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors as leads and prioritize sildenafil for its clinical...

CONCLUSIONS: The effects of PM(2.5) exposure on the skeletal muscle system are age-specific, with distinct damaging effects during growth and aging, whereas skeletal muscles in middle-aged mice are resistant to PM(2.5)-induced damage.

The ageing global population faces a rising prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), now recognized as a state of accelerated ageing driven by chronic low-grade inflammation-inflammaging. This review synthesizes current evidence positioning the kidney not merely as a passive target but as an active participant in systemic inflammaging, a process fueled by immunosenescence, metabolic reprogramming, and cellular senescence. We explore how resident renal cells, including tubular epithelial...

Aging alters prefrontal recruitment, often showing posterior-anterior shifts that may reflect compensatory mechanisms. Working memory capacity (WMC) is a key individual difference shaping attention and control but its role in age-related functional reorganization remains unclear. We examined 72 adults (36 younger, 36 older) who completed standardized span tasks and an fMRI visual discrimination paradigm with three manipulations: perceptual load, fine discrimination, and mapping-switch....

Balance training in geriatric rehabilitation reduces fall risk by eliciting multifaceted cortical reorganization through repeated sensorimotor challenges, supporting more efficient postural control in aging. This study combined minimum spanning tree (MST) and k-iteration second-best MST analyses to characterize training-induced changes in cortical network efficiency and resilience. Twenty-four older adults (70.4 ± 3.3 years) completed 12 sessions of stabilometer training with real-time visual...

The dynamic changes in immune cell composition throughout the human lifespan remain poorly understood. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing and single-cell assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing on peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy donors, spanning mid-fetal to late adulthood. Our findings revealed age-associated reprogramming across lymphoid and myeloid lineages, with T cells undergoing the most significant transcriptional remodeling. Notably,...

Awards intended to "build the train tracks" for approval of therapies to extend healthy life.

Mapping behavior of individual vertebrate animals across lifespan could provide an unprecedented view into the lifelong process of aging. We created a platform for high-resolution continuous behavioral tracking of the African killifish across natural lifespan from adolescence to death. We found that animals follow distinct individual aging trajectories. The behaviors of long-lived animals differed markedly from those of short-lived animals, even relatively early in life, and were linked to...

Stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide, with ischemic stroke accounting for over 87% of all stroke cases. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the major risk factors for stroke, as CKD patients have shown evidence of impaired cerebral autoregulation leading to exacerbated stroke pathology. The worsening of stroke outcomes in CKD patients is limitedly understood. Inflammation plays a pivotal role in driving the CKD-stroke pathology. The cGAS-STING (cyclic...

Intrinsic capacity is a concept established by the World Health Organization (WHO). The concept aims to represent the total of a person's physical and mental abilities, measured across five domains: cognition, psychological, sensory, vitality, and locomotor that were identified as crucial for healthy aging. The aim being to shift focus from disease to function to predict health, disability, and frailty. In this large-scale cohort study, we aim to investigate the association between intrinsic...