Key target for rejuvenation treatments needs ‘re-brand’

The search for rejuvenation treatments often targets senescent cells, despite the fact that they have a positive physiological role in health in many recent cases, a leading researcher has warned.

In a paper published in Science today (Thursday 20 June), Professor Joao Pedro de Magalhaes from the University of Birmingham identifies that senescent cells that have been variously named as responsible for aging actually have various positive effects on health and targeting them therapeutically could be harmful. .

Professor de Magalhaes emphasizes the important role that cellular senescence plays in the development of several tissues and organs, as well as:

• inflammation and wound healing,
• tumor suppression,
• insulin secretion in pancreatic beta cells,
• and has structural roles in the vasculature and placenta.

Senescence has also been observed in tissue regeneration in some animals, including mice, where hepatic stellate cells, which are essential for normal liver function, become senescent following injury.

Joao Pedro de Magalhaes, professor of molecular biogerontology at the University of Birmingham and author of the paper, said:

“The role of cellular senescence in aging and age-related diseases is a major area of ​​research, which has led to the continued development of therapies that target senescent cells.

“Recent discoveries, however, have revealed a surprising and growing number of normal physiological roles for senescent cells. Strikingly, these results show that senescent cells play important physiological roles and raise major questions regarding the rationale, efficacy, and safety of targeting senescent cells therapeutically.

“While it is clear that there are some cases where cellular senescence is involved in aging diseases, targeting senescent cells carries therapeutic risks and may not be the way forward to combat aging.”