Summary: Removing senescent cells may help to reverse some of the signs of aging, researchers report.
Source: Cell Press.
It’s an exciting time to be an elderly mouse. Researchers believe that by removing senescent cells (cells with a persistent damage response), which naturally accumulate with age, senior rodents can regrow hair, run faster, and improve organ function. This strategy may bring us one step closer to the “fountain of youth,” but it’s important to be cautious and not hype, says researcher of aging Peter de Keizer of the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands. In an Opinion published December 29 in Trends in Molecule Medicine, he discusses the milestones the field still needs to hit before translation in humans is ready for discussion.
The removal of senescent cells, first discovered in the 1960s, received renewed interest in the 2010s as a therapeutic option to combat some aspects of aging. Researchers noticed that these permanently arrested cells accumulate in mature tissue and that some of them secrete factors that are harmful to tissue function and impair their neighboring cells. To explain what causes this noise in the system, de Keizer proposes a “senescence-stem lock model” in which the chronic secretion of pro-inflammatory factors by these senescent cells keeps neighboring cells in a permanent stem-like state and thereby prevents proper tissue renewal.
“When bringing in a defective car for repairs it is insufficient to remove the rust and broken parts; you also want to replace these,” says de Keizer “A perfect anti-senescence therapy would not only clear senescent cells, but also kick-start tissue rejuvenation by stimulating differentiation of nearby stem cells. This may be complementary with, for instance, the exciting approaches recently made in the field of transient expression of stem cell factors.”
There’s still much basic research to be done before humans visit their local rejuvenation clinic for their annual shot of anti-aging serum. Identifying potential safety issues or off-target effects, which is currently understudied in rodents, is a major part of the process. (Senescent cells do have a temporary role in wound healing, so you don’t want to eliminate them when you are injured or at the wrong point in time)
De Keizer sees three milestones for realistic translation of an anti-senescence approach:
- Milestone #1: Proof of Concept
Several studies have already addressed whether senescence is a cause of aging and whether its elimination stalls this process. By taking out senescent cells, naturally aging mice lived 25% longer, which is evidence that it could be possible. - Milestone #2: Safe Therapeutics
Anti-senescent drugs are already being tested, but none of them have yet to be deemed safe because they also target pathways expressed by non-senescent cells. It is likely that this marker will be passed in the near future. - Milestone #3: Reversal of Aging
Finally, researchers will need to identify whether clearance of senescence can also be applied retrospectively to counteract features of natural aging that have already manifested. Although aging does seem like it can be stalled through therapeutic compounds, it remains unclear whether age-related diseases can be completely deterred.
“What if we have a brilliant anti- senescence treatment, then what?” says de Keizer. “How can we hit two birds with one stone–anti-senescence and tissue rejuvenation? I would also advise caution for claiming too much, too soon about the benefits of the fast-growing list of therapeutic compounds that are being discovered. That being said, these are clearly very exciting times, and I am confident we will find applicable anti-senescence treatments that can counteract age-related pathologies.”
Researchers will also need to think about when such treatments should be administered (such as before or after the onset of certain conditions) and who would benefit the most. The potentially high cost of an anti-aging therapy, as well as off-target toxicity, could also be limiting factors for widespread market use as it is translated.
De Keizer, who plans to co-found a start-up based on the discovery of anti-senescence compounds from his lab, is hopeful that cell-penetrating peptides that can block specific activities of these retired cells could be the path forward over broad-range inhibitors.
Funding: This work was funded by the Erasmus University Medical Center and the Dutch Cancer Society.
Source: Vanessa McMains – Cell Press
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is for illustrative purposes only. The Fountain of Youth, Lucas Cranach the Elder, circa 1546.
Original Research: Full open access research for “The Fountain of Youth by Targeting Senescent Cells?” by Peter L.J. de Keizer in Trends in Molecular Medicine. Published online December 2016 doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2016.11.006
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Cell Press “Anti-Aging Therapies Targeting Senescent Cells: Facts and Fiction.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 30 December 2016.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/anti-aging-senscent-cells-5838/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Cell Press (2016, December 30). Anti-Aging Therapies Targeting Senescent Cells: Facts and Fiction. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved December 30, 2016 from https://neurosciencenews.com/anti-aging-senscent-cells-5838/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Cell Press “Anti-Aging Therapies Targeting Senescent Cells: Facts and Fiction.” https://neurosciencenews.com/anti-aging-senscent-cells-5838/ (accessed December 30, 2016).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Abstract
The Fountain of Youth by Targeting Senescent Cells?
The potential to reverse aging has long been a tantalizing thought, but has equally been considered mere utopia. Recently, the spotlights have turned to senescent cells as being a culprit for aging. Can these cells be therapeutically eliminated? When so? And is this even safe? Recent developments in the tool box to study senescence have made it possible to begin addressing these questions. It will be especially relevant to identify how senescence impairs tissue rejuvenation and to prospectively design compounds that can both target senescence and stimulate rejuvenation in a safe manner. This review argues that to fulfill this niche, cell-penetrating peptides may provide promising therapeutics. As a candidate approach, the author also highlights the potential of targeting individual FOXO signaling pathways to combat senescence and stimulate tissue rejuventaion.
Trends
Semigenetic clearance of senescent cells delays features of aging in fast and naturally aged mice establishing senescence as their underlying cause.
Viability screens with existing compounds lead to discovery of the first generation of antisenescence compounds as quercetin/dasatinib and pan-BCL inhibitors. Further optimization is required due to suboptimal selectivity or toxicity.
Cell-penetrating peptides can steer very specific protein–protein interactions and have been successful in various clinical trials. They are a potent option for forward design of antisenescence therapies.
Senescent cells can impair their environment through juxtacrine and paracrine signaling of SASP factors. This may be caused by keeping neighboring cells permanently locked in a state of dedifferentiation, leading to reduced tissue rejuvenation potential.
FOXOs regulate p21Cip1, a prominent factor in senescence growth arrest, and they inhibit the stemness regulator β-catenin. As such, they could be ideal therapeutic targets to counter senescence, while promoting tissue rejuvenation.
“The Fountain of Youth by Targeting Senescent Cells?” by Peter L.J. de Keizer in Trends in Molecular Medicine. Published online December 2016 doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2016.11.006
