bims-senagi 2021-05-30 papers

bims-senagi

Biomed News

on Senescence and aging

Issue of 2021‒05‒30
thirty-two papers selected by
Maria Grazia Vizioli
Mayo Clinic

DOT1L modulates the senescence-associated secretory phenotype through epigenetic regulation of IL1A.
Cdkn1a transcript variant 2 is a marker of aging and cellular senescence.
The role of senescence in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation: a target process for health improvement and drug development.
Senolytic agents lessen the severity of abdominal aortic aneurysm in aged mice.
Restoration of energy homeostasis by SIRT6 extends healthy lifespan.
Apigenin Alleviates Oxidative Stress-Induced Cellular Senescence via Modulation of the SIRT1-NAD[Formula: see text]-CD38 Axis.
Thioredoxin interacting protein regulates age-associated neuroinflammation.
The old guard: age-related changes in microglia and their consequences.
Genetic associations for two biological age measures point to distinct aging phenotypes.
Aging is associated with glial senescence in the brainstem - implications for age-related sympathetic overactivity.
Alterations of the pigmentation system in the aging process.
Senescent T cells: a potential biomarker and target for cancer therapy.
Aging associated altered response to intracellular bacterial infections and its implication on the host.
Age-related changes in the local milieu of inflamed tissues cause aberrant neutrophil trafficking and subsequent remote organ damage.
Senescence and associated blood-brain barrier alterations in vitro.
Elevated type I interferon responses potentiate metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, and accelerated aging in mtDNA mutator mice.
Endothelial cells from umbilical cord of women affected by gestational diabetes: A suitable in vitro model to study mechanisms of early vascular senescence in diabetes.
Hyperoxia causes senescence and increases glycolysis in cultured lung epithelial cells.
Clonal hematopoiesis associated with epigenetic aging and clinical outcomes.
Sargahydroquinoic acid (SHQA) suppresses cellular senescence through Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.
Systemic NF-κB-mediated inflammation promotes an aging phenotype in skeletal stem/progenitor cells.
Microglia Phenotypes Converge in Aging and Neurodegenerative Disease.
Potential role of senescent macrophages in radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis.
Peroxiredoxin 4 improved aging-related delayed wound healing in mice.
Aging as a consequence of selection to reduce the environmental risk of dying.
The emerging role of cellular senescence in complications of COVID-19.
Cytosolic dsDNA of mitochondrial origin induces cytotoxicity and neurodegeneration in cellular and zebrafish models of Parkinson's disease.
Regulatory KIR+ RA+ T cells accumulate with age and are highly activated during viral respiratory disease.
MFG-E8 regulated by miR-99b-5p protects against osteoarthritis by targeting chondrocyte senescence and macrophage reprogramming via the NF-κB pathway.
Metformin reduces neuroinflammation and improves cognitive functions after traumatic brain injury.
Roles of tRNA metabolism in aging and lifespan.
Mitochondrial ROS signals prevent excessive immune response.

J Cell Biol. 2021 Aug 02. pii: e202008101. [Epub ahead of print]220(8):

DOT1L modulates the senescence-associated secretory phenotype through epigenetic regulation of IL1A.

Kelly E Leon, Raquel Buj, Elizabeth Lesko, Erika S Dahl, Chi-Wei Chen, Naveen Kumar Tangudu, Yuka Imamura-Kawasawa, Andrew V Kossenkov, Ryan P Hobbs, Katherine M Aird.

Oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) is a stable cell cycle arrest that occurs in normal cells upon oncogene activation. Cells undergoing OIS express a wide variety of secreted factors that affect the senescent microenvironment termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), which is beneficial or detrimental in a context-dependent manner. OIS cells are also characterized by marked epigenetic changes. We globally assessed histone modifications of OIS cells and discovered an increase in the active histone marks H3K79me2/3. The H3K79 methyltransferase disruptor of telomeric silencing 1-like (DOT1L) was necessary and sufficient for increased H3K79me2/3 occupancy at the IL1A gene locus, but not other SASP genes, and was downstream of STING. Modulating DOT1L expression did not affect the cell cycle arrest. Together, our studies establish DOT1L as an epigenetic regulator of the SASP, whose expression is uncoupled from the senescence-associated cell cycle arrest, providing a potential strategy to inhibit the negative side effects of senescence while maintaining the beneficial inhibition of proliferation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202008101
Aging (Albany NY). 2021 May 25. 13

Cdkn1a transcript variant 2 is a marker of aging and cellular senescence.

José Alberto López-Domínguez, Sandra Rodríguez-López, Ulises Ahumada-Castro, Pierre-Yves Desprez, Maria Konovalenko, Remi-Martin Laberge, César Cárdenas, José Manuel Villalba, Judith Campisi.

  Cellular senescence is a cell fate response characterized by a permanent cell cycle arrest driven primarily the by cell cycle inhibitor and tumor suppressor proteins p16Ink4a and p21Cip1/Waf1. In mice, the p21Cip1/Waf1 encoding locus, Cdkn1a, is known to generate two transcripts that produce identical proteins, but one of these transcript variants is poorly characterized. We show that the Cdkn1a transcript variant 2, but not the better-studied variant 1, is selectively elevated during natural aging across multiple mouse tissues. Importantly, mouse cells induced to senescence in culture by genotoxic stress (ionizing radiation or doxorubicin) upregulated both transcripts, but with different temporal dynamics: variant 1 responded nearly immediately to genotoxic stress, whereas variant 2 increased much more slowly as cells acquired senescent characteristics. Upon treating mice systemically with doxorubicin, which induces widespread cellular senescence in vivo, variant 2 increased to a larger extent than variant 1. Variant 2 levels were also more sensitive to the senolytic drug ABT-263 in naturally aged mice. Thus, variant 2 is a novel and more sensitive marker than variant 1 or total p21Cip1/Waf1 protein for assessing the senescent cell burden and clearance in mice.

Keywords:  doxorubicin; ionizing radiation; mouse dermal fibroblast; p21; p53

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203110
Ageing Res Rev. 2021 May 20. pii: S1568-1637(21)00110-0. [Epub ahead of print] 101363

The role of senescence in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation: a target process for health improvement and drug development.

Guangran Guo, Steven Watterson, Shu-Dong Zhang, Anthony Bjourson, Victoria McGilligan, Aaron Peace, Taranjit Singh Rai.

  Cellular senescence is a state of growth arrest that occurs after cells encounter various stresses. Senescence contributes to tumour suppression, embryonic development, and wound healing. It impacts on the pathology of various diseases by secreting inflammatory chemokines, immune modulators and other bioactive factors. These secretory biosignatures ultimately cause inflammation, tissue fibrosis, immunosenescence and many ageing-related diseases such as atrial fibrillation (AF). Because the molecular mechanisms underpinning AF development remain unclear, current treatments are suboptimal and have serious side effects. In this review, we summarize recent results describing the role of senescence in AF. We propose that senescence factors induce AF and have a causative role. Hence, targeting senescence and its secretory phenotype may attenuate AF.

Keywords:  Atrial fibrillation; ageing; atrial fibrosis; senescence

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2021.101363
Exp Gerontol. 2021 May 19. pii: S0531-5565(21)00198-4. [Epub ahead of print]151 111416

Senolytic agents lessen the severity of abdominal aortic aneurysm in aged mice.

Mojtaba Parvizi, Federico Franchi, Bonnie K Arendt, Sanam Ebtehaj, Martin Rodriguez-Porcel, Ian R Lanza.

  Age is a major risk factor for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), for which treatment options are limited to surgical intervention for large AAA and watchful waiting for small aneurysms. However, the factors that regulate the expansion of aneurysms are unclear. Development of new therapeutic strategies to prevent or treat small aneurysms awaits a more thorough understanding of the etiology of AAA formation and progression with aging. A variety of structural and functional changes have been reported in aging vasculature, but emerging evidence implicates senescent cells in the formation of AAA through their paracrine effects on vascular wall cell populations. Here we show that aging is associated with transcriptional changes in abdominal aortic tissue consistent with loss of smooth muscle cells, leukocyte adhesion, inflammation, and accumulation of senescent cells in the vascular wall and surrounding perivascular adipose tissue. Furthermore, aged mice demonstrated anatomical and histopathological features of AAA development in response to administration of angiotensin II over 28 days. Importantly, in our study we sought to determine if reducing senescent cells could lessen the severity of AAA in aged mice. We find that pretreatment of aged mice with oral senolytic agents (dasatinib + quercetin) reduced senescent cell abundance in the arterial walls and surrounding tissues and lessened the severity of AAA in response to angiotensin II administration. These data provide important preliminary evidence supporting a role of senescent cells in age-related AAA formation and progression and suggest that strategies to reduce senescent cell burden hold promise to lessen AAA severity.

Keywords:  Abdominal aortic aneurysm; Aging; Angiotensin II; Senescence; Senolytics

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2021.111416
Nat Commun. 2021 May 28. 12(1): 3208

Restoration of energy homeostasis by SIRT6 extends healthy lifespan.

A Roichman, S Elhanati, M A Aon, I Abramovich, A Di Francesco, Y Shahar, M Y Avivi, M Shurgi, A Rubinstein, Y Wiesner, A Shuchami, Z Petrover, I Lebenthal-Loinger, O Yaron, A Lyashkov, C Ubaida-Mohien, Y Kanfi, B Lerrer, P J Fernández-Marcos, M Serrano, E Gottlieb, R de Cabo, H Y Cohen.

Aging leads to a gradual decline in physical activity and disrupted energy homeostasis. The NAD+-dependent SIRT6 deacylase regulates aging and metabolism through mechanisms that largely remain unknown. Here, we show that SIRT6 overexpression leads to a reduction in frailty and lifespan extension in both male and female B6 mice. A combination of physiological assays, in vivo multi-omics analyses and 13C lactate tracing identified an age-dependent decline in glucose homeostasis and hepatic glucose output in wild type mice. In contrast, aged SIRT6-transgenic mice preserve hepatic glucose output and glucose homeostasis through an improvement in the utilization of two major gluconeogenic precursors, lactate and glycerol. To mediate these changes, mechanistically, SIRT6 increases hepatic gluconeogenic gene expression, de novo NAD+ synthesis, and systemically enhances glycerol release from adipose tissue. These findings show that SIRT6 optimizes energy homeostasis in old age to delay frailty and preserve healthy aging.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23545-7
Am J Chin Med. 2021 May 27. 1-16

Apigenin Alleviates Oxidative Stress-Induced Cellular Senescence via Modulation of the SIRT1-NAD[Formula: see text]-CD38 Axis.

Bing Si Li, Ri Zhe Zhu, Seok-Hee Lim, Jae Ho Seo, Byung-Min Choi.

  Oxidative stress-induced cellular senescence is now regarded as an important driving mechanism in chronic lung diseases-particularly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 4',5,7-trihydroxyflavone (Apigenin) is a natural flavonoid product abundantly present in fruits, vegetables, and Chinese medicinal herbs. It has been known that apigenin has anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and liver-protecting effects. The efficacy of apigenin for lung aging, however, has not been reported. In this study, we selected the hydrogen peroxide (H2O[Formula: see text]- or doxorubicin (DOXO)-induced senescence model in WI-38 human embryonic lung fibroblast cells to determine the potential anti-aging effects of apigenin in vitro and associated molecular mechanisms. We found that apigenin reduced senescence-associated [Formula: see text]-galactosidase (SA-[Formula: see text]-gal) activity and promoted cell growth, concomitant with a decrease in levels of Acetyl (ac)-p53, p21[Formula: see text], and p16[Formula: see text] and an increase in phospho (p)-Rb. Apigenin also increased the activation ratio of silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD[Formula: see text], and NAD[Formula: see text]/NADH and inhibited cluster of differentiation 38 (CD38) activity in a concentration-dependent manner. SIRT1 inhibition by SIRT1 siRNA abolished the anti-aging effect of apigenin. In addition, CD38 inhibition by CD38 siRNA or apigenin increased the SIRT1 level and reduced H2O2-induced senescence. Our findings suggest that apigenin is a promising phytochemical for reducing the impact of senescent cells in age-related lung diseases such as COPD.

Keywords:  Anti-Aging; Apigenin; CD38; Oxidative Stress; SIRT1

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1142/S0192415X21500592
Neurobiol Dis. 2021 May 21. pii: S0969-9961(21)00148-0. [Epub ahead of print]156 105399

Thioredoxin interacting protein regulates age-associated neuroinflammation.

Saifudeen Ismael, Sanaz Nasoohi, Lexiao Li, Khurram S Aslam, Mohammad Moshahid Khan, Azza B El-Remessy, Michael P McDonald, Francesca-Fang Liao, Tauheed Ishrat.

  Immune system hypersensitivity is believed to contribute to mental frailty in the elderly. Solid evidence indicates NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing-3 (NLRP3)-inflammasome activation intimately connects aging-associated chronic inflammation (inflammaging) to senile cognitive decline. Thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP), an inducible protein involved in oxidative stress, is essential for NLRP3 inflammasome activity. This study aims to find whether TXNIP/NLRP3 inflammasome pathway is involved in senile dementia. According to our studies on sex-matched mice, TXNIP was significantly upregulated in aged animals, paralleled by the NLRP3-inflammasome over-activity leading to enhanced caspase-1 cleavage and IL-1β maturation, in both sexes. This was closely associated with depletion of the anti-aging and cognition enhancing protein klotho, in aged males. Txnip knockout reversed age-related NLRP3-hyperactivity and enhanced thioredoxin (TRX) levels. Further, TXNIP inhibition along with verapamil replicated TXNIP/NLRP3-inflammasome downregulation in aged animals, with FOXO-1 and mTOR upregulation. These alterations concurred with substantial improvements in both cognitive and sensorimotor abilities. Together, these findings substantiate the pivotal role of TXNIP to drive inflammaging in parallel with klotho depletion and functional decline, and delineate thioredoxin system as a potential target to decelerate senile dementia.

Keywords:  Brain aging; Functional decline; NLRP3-inflmmasome; Oxidative stress; TXNIP

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2021.105399
Mech Ageing Dev. 2021 May 19. pii: S0047-6374(21)00084-1. [Epub ahead of print] 111512

The old guard: age-related changes in microglia and their consequences.

Jéssica Costa, Solange Martins, Pedro Ferreira, Ana M S Cardoso, Joana R Guedes, João M Peça, Ana L Cardoso.

  Among all major organs, the brain is one of the most susceptible to the inexorable effects of aging. Throughout the last decades, several studies in human cohorts and animal models have revealed a plethora of age-related changes in the brain, including reduced neurogenesis, oxidative damage, mitochondrial dysfunction and cell senescence. As the main immune effectors and first responders of the nervous tissue, microglia are at the center of these events. These cells experience irrevocable changes as a result from cumulative exposure to environmental triggers, such as stress, infection and metabolic dysregulation. The age-related immunosenescent phenotype acquired by microglia is characterized by profound modifications in their transcriptomic profile, secretome, morphology and phagocytic activity, which compromise both their housekeeping and defensive functions. As a result, aged microglia are no longer capable of establishing effective immune responses and sustaining normal synaptic activity, directly contributing to age-associated cognitive decline and neurodegeneration. This review discusses how lifestyle and environmental factors drive microglia dysfunction at the molecular and functional level, also highlighting possible interventions to reverse aging-associated damage to the nervous and immune systems.

Keywords:  aging; cognitive decline; infection; inflammation; microglia; neuroimmune system; stress

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mad.2021.111512
Aging Cell. 2021 May 26. e13376

Genetic associations for two biological age measures point to distinct aging phenotypes.

Chia-Ling Kuo, Luke C Pilling, Zuyun Liu, Janice L Atkins, Morgan E Levine.

  Biological age measures outperform chronological age in predicting various aging outcomes, yet little is known regarding genetic predisposition. We performed genome-wide association scans of two age-adjusted biological age measures (PhenoAgeAcceleration and BioAgeAcceleration), estimated from clinical biochemistry markers (Levine et al., 2018; Levine, 2013) in European-descent participants from UK Biobank. The strongest signals were found in the APOE gene, tagged by the two major protein-coding SNPs, PhenoAgeAccel-rs429358 (APOE e4 determinant) (p = 1.50 × 10-72 ); BioAgeAccel-rs7412 (APOE e2 determinant) (p = 3.16 × 10-60 ). Interestingly, we observed inverse APOE e2 and e4 associations and unique pathway enrichments when comparing the two biological age measures. Genes associated with BioAgeAccel were enriched in lipid related pathways, while genes associated with PhenoAgeAccel showed enrichment for immune system, cell function, and carbohydrate homeostasis pathways, suggesting the two measures capture different aging domains. Our study reaffirms that aging patterns are heterogeneous across individuals, and the manner in which a person ages may be partly attributed to genetic predisposition.

Keywords:   APOE ; biomarkers; cardiac aging; inflammaging; polygenic risk score

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.13376
Aging (Albany NY). 2021 May 26. 13

Aging is associated with glial senescence in the brainstem - implications for age-related sympathetic overactivity.

Priya Balasubramanian, Lyndee Branen, Mahesh Kumar Sivasubramanian, Raisa Monteiro, Madhan Subramanian.

  Accumulating evidence suggests that the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) overactivity plays a crucial role in age-related increase in the risk for cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke and heart diseases. Previous studies indicate that neuroinflammation in key brainstem regions that regulate sympathetic outflow plays a pathogenic role in aging-mediated sympathoexcitation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are not clear. While senescent cells and their secretory phenotype (SASP) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several age-related diseases, their role in age-related neuroinflammation in the brainstem and SNS overactivity has not been investigated. To test this, we isolated brainstems from young (2-4 months) and aged (24 months) male C57BL/6J mice and assessed senescence using a combination of RNA-in situ hybridization, PCR analysis, multiplex assay and SA-β gal staining. Our results show significant increases in p16Ink4a expression, increased activity of SA-β gal and increases in SASP levels in the aged brainstem, suggesting age-induced senescence in the brainstem. Further, analysis of senescence markers in glial cells enriched fraction from fresh brainstem samples demonstrated that glial cells are more susceptible to senesce with age in the brainstem. In conclusion, our study suggests that aging induces glial senescence in the brainstem which likely causes inflammation and SNS overactivity.

Keywords:  aging; brainstem; glial cells; senescence; sympathetic nervous system

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203111
Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2021 May 28.

Alterations of the pigmentation system in the aging process.

Hee Young Kang, Jin Wook Lee, Federica Papaccio, Barbara Bellei, Mauro Picardo.

  Human skin aging is a natural phenomenon that results from continuous exposure to intrinsic (time, genetic factors, hormones) as well as extrinsic factors (UV exposure, pollution, tobacco). In areas that are frequently exposed to the sun, photoaging blends with the process of intrinsic aging, resulting in an increased senescent cells number and consequently accelerating the aging process. The severity of photodamage depends on constitutional factors, including skin phototype (skin color, tanning capacity), intensity, and duration of sunlight/UV exposure. Aging affects nearly every aspect of cutaneous biology, including pigmentation. Clinically, the phenotype of age pigmented skin has a mottled, uneven color, primarily due to age spots, with or without hypopigmentation. Uneven pigmentation might be attributed to the hyperactivation of melanocytes, altered distribution of pigment, and turnover. In addition to direct damage to pigment-producing cells, photodamage alters the physiological crosstalk between keratinocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and melanocytes responsible for natural pigmentation homeostasis. Interestingly, age-independent diffuse expression of senescence-associated markers in the dermal and epidermal compartment is also associated with vitiligo, suggesting that premature senescence play an important role in the pathology.

Keywords:  Skin; disorders of skin color; melanocytes; senescence; vitiligo

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/pcmr.12994
EBioMedicine. 2021 May 25. pii: S2352-3964(21)00202-4. [Epub ahead of print]68 103409

Senescent T cells: a potential biomarker and target for cancer therapy.

Jie Zhang, Tianhui He, Lixiang Xue, Hongyan Guo.

  The failure of T cells to eradicate tumour cells in the tumour microenvironment is mainly due to the dysfunction of T cells. Senescent T cells, with defects in proliferation and effector functions, accumulate in ageing, chronic viral infections, and autoimmune disorders where antigen stimulation persists. Increasing evidence suggests that inducing T cell senescence is a key strategy used by malignant tumours to evade immune surveillance. In this review, we summarize the general features, functional regulation, and signalling network of senescent T cells in tumour development and highlight their potential as prognostic biomarkers in multiple cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy. Moreover, we discuss possible therapeutic strategies for preventing or rejuvenating senescence in tumour-specific T cells. Understanding these critical issues may provide novel strategies to enhance cancer immunotherapy.

Keywords:  Senescent T cell; cancer immunotherapy; prognostic biomarkers; therapeutic targets; tumour microenvironment

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103409
Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Res. 2021 May 19. pii: S0167-4889(21)00117-8. [Epub ahead of print] 119063

Aging associated altered response to intracellular bacterial infections and its implication on the host.

Sheryl E Fernandes, Alakesh Singh, R S Rajmani, Siddharth Jhunjhunwala, Deepak K Saini.

  The effects of senescence on geriatric disorders is well explored, but how it influences infections in the elderly is poorly addressed. Here, we show that several anti-microbial responses are elevated in senescent epithelial cells and old mice, which results in decreased bacterial survival in the host after infection. We identify higher levels of iNOS as a crucial host response and show that p38 MAPK in senescent epithelial cells acts as a negative regulator of iNOS transcription. However, in older mice, the ability to impede bacterial infection does not result in enhanced survival, possibly because elevated pro-inflammatory responses are not countered by a robust host protective anti-inflammatory response. Overall, while addressing an alternate advantage of senescent cells, our study demonstrates that infection-associated morbidity in the elderly may not be the sole outcome of pathogen loads but may also be influenced by the host's ability to resolve inflammation-induced damage.

Keywords:  Aging; Tuberculosis; infection; nitric oxide; senescence, Salmonella

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2021.119063
Immunity. 2021 May 19. pii: S1074-7613(21)00187-4. [Epub ahead of print]

Age-related changes in the local milieu of inflamed tissues cause aberrant neutrophil trafficking and subsequent remote organ damage.

Anna Barkaway, Loïc Rolas, Régis Joulia, Jennifer Bodkin, Tchern Lenn, Charlotte Owen-Woods, Natalia Reglero-Real, Monja Stein, Laura Vázquez-Martínez, Tamara Girbl, Robin N Poston, Matthew Golding, Rebecca S Saleeb, Aude Thiriot, Ulrich H von Andrian, Johan Duchene, Mathieu-Benoit Voisin, Cleo L Bishop, David Voehringer, Axel Roers, Antal Rot, Tim Lämmermann, Sussan Nourshargh.

  Aging is associated with dysregulated immune functions. Here, we investigated the impact of age on neutrophil diapedesis. Using confocal intravital microscopy, we found that in aged mice, neutrophils adhered to vascular endothelium in inflamed tissues but exhibited a high frequency of reverse transendothelial migration (rTEM). This retrograde breaching of the endothelium by neutrophils was governed by enhanced production of the chemokine CXCL1 from mast cells that localized at endothelial cell (EC) junctions. Increased EC expression of the atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1) supported this pro-inflammatory milieu in aged venules. Accumulation of CXCL1 caused desensitization of the chemokine receptor CXCR2 on neutrophils and loss of neutrophil directional motility within EC junctions. Fluorescent tracking revealed that in aged mice, neutrophils undergoing rTEM re-entered the circulation and disseminated to the lungs where they caused vascular leakage. Thus, neutrophils stemming from a local inflammatory site contribute to remote organ damage, with implication to the dysregulated systemic inflammation associated with aging.

Keywords:  ACKR1; CXCR2; Neutrophils; aging; chemokines; diapedesis; endothelium; extravasation; inflammation; mast cells

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2021.04.025
Histochem Cell Biol. 2021 May 27.

Senescence and associated blood-brain barrier alterations in vitro.

Ellaine Salvador, Malgorzata Burek, Mario Löhr, Michiaki Nagai, Carsten Hagemann, Carola Y Förster.

  Progressive deterioration of the central nervous system (CNS) is commonly associated with aging. An important component of the neurovasculature is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), majorly made up of endothelial cells joined together by intercellular junctions. The relationship between senescence and changes in the BBB has not yet been thoroughly explored. Moreover, the lack of in vitro models for the study of the mechanisms involved in those changes impede further and more in-depth investigations in the field. For this reason, we herein present an in vitro model of the senescent BBB and an initial attempt to identify senescence-associated alterations within.

Keywords:  Aging; Blood–brain barrier; CNS diseases; In vitro model; Senescence

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-021-01992-z
Sci Adv. 2021 May;pii: eabe7548. [Epub ahead of print]7(22):

Elevated type I interferon responses potentiate metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, and accelerated aging in mtDNA mutator mice.

Yuanjiu Lei, Camila Guerra Martinez, Sylvia Torres-Odio, Samantha L Bell, Christine E Birdwell, Joshua D Bryant, Carl W Tong, Robert O Watson, Laura Ciaccia West, A Phillip West.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a key driver of inflammatory responses in human disease. However, it remains unclear whether alterations in mitochondria-innate immune cross-talk contribute to the pathobiology of mitochondrial disorders and aging. Using the polymerase gamma (POLG) mutator model of mitochondrial DNA instability, we report that aberrant activation of the type I interferon (IFN-I) innate immune axis potentiates immunometabolic dysfunction, reduces health span, and accelerates aging in mutator mice. Mechanistically, elevated IFN-I signaling suppresses activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2), which increases oxidative stress, enhances proinflammatory cytokine responses, and accelerates metabolic dysfunction. Ablation of IFN-I signaling attenuates hyperinflammatory phenotypes by restoring NRF2 activity and reducing aerobic glycolysis, which combine to lessen cardiovascular and myeloid dysfunction in aged mutator mice. These findings further advance our knowledge of how mitochondrial dysfunction shapes innate immune responses and provide a framework for understanding mitochondria-driven immunopathology in POLG-related disorders and aging.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe7548
FASEB J. 2021 Jun;35(6): e21662

Endothelial cells from umbilical cord of women affected by gestational diabetes: A suitable in vitro model to study mechanisms of early vascular senescence in diabetes.

Pamela Di Tomo, Nicola Alessio, Stefano Falone, Laura Pietrangelo, Paola Lanuti, Valeria Cordone, Silvano Junior Santini, Nadia Di Pietrantonio, Marco Marchisio, Feliciano Protasi, Natalia Di Pietro, Gloria Formoso, Fernanda Amicarelli, Umberto Galderisi, Assunta Pandolfi.

  Human umbilical cord endothelial cells (HUVECs) obtained from women affected by gestational diabetes (GD-HUVECs) display durable pro-atherogenic modifications and might be considered a valid in vitro model for studying chronic hyperglycemia effects on early endothelial senescence. Here, we demonstrated that GD- compared to C-HUVECs (controls) exhibited oxidative stress, altered both mitochondrial membrane potential and antioxidant response, significant increase of senescent cells characterized by a reduced NAD-dependent deacetylase sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) activity together with an increase in cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor-2A (P16), cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor-1 (P21), and tumor protein p53 (P53) acetylation. This was associated with the p300 activation, and its silencing significantly reduced the GD-HUVECs increased protein levels of P300 and Ac-P53 thus indicating a persistent endothelial senescence via SIRT1/P300/P53/P21 pathway. Overall, our data suggest that GD-HUVECs can represent an "endothelial hyperglycemic memory" model to investigate in vitro the early endothelium senescence in cells chronically exposed to hyperglycemia in vivo.

Keywords:  endothelium; gestational diabetes; mitochondria; oxidative stress; senescence

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.202002072RR
Physiol Rep. 2021 May;9(10): e14839

Hyperoxia causes senescence and increases glycolysis in cultured lung epithelial cells.

Alejandro M Scaffa, Abigail L Peterson, Jennifer F Carr, David Garcia, Hongwei Yao, Phyllis A Dennery.

  Supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilation commonly used in premature infants may lead to chronic lung disease of prematurity, which is characterized by arrested alveolar development and dysmorphic vascular development. Hyperoxia is also known to dysregulate p53, senescence, and metabolism. However, whether these changes in p53, senescence, and metabolism are intertwined in response to hyperoxia is still unknown. Given that the lung epithelium is the first cell to encounter ambient oxygen during a hyperoxic exposure, we used mouse lung epithelial cells (MLE-12), surfactant protein expressing type II cells, to explore whether hyperoxic exposure alters senescence and glycolysis. We measured glycolytic rate using a Seahorse Bioanalyzer assay and senescence using a senescence-associated β galactosidase activity assay with X-gal and C12 FDG as substrates. We found that hyperoxic exposure caused senescence and increased glycolysis as well as reduced proliferation. This was associated with increased double stranded DNA damage, p53 phosphorylation and nuclear localization. Furthermore, hyperoxia-induced senescence was p53-dependent, but not pRB-dependent, as shown in p53KO and pRBKO cell lines. Despite the inhibitory effects of p53 on glycolysis, we observed that glycolysis was upregulated in hyperoxia-exposed MLE-12 cells. This was attributable to a subpopulation of highly glycolytic senescent cells detected by C12 FDG sorting. Nevertheless, inhibition of glycolysis did not prevent hyperoxia-induced senescence. Therapeutic strategies modulating p53 and glycolysis may be useful to mitigate the detrimental consequences of hyperoxia in the neonatal lung.

Keywords:  epithelial; glycolysis; hyperoxia; lung; metabolism; senescence

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.14839
Aging Cell. 2021 May 29. e13366

Clonal hematopoiesis associated with epigenetic aging and clinical outcomes.

Daniel Nachun, Ake T Lu, Alexander G Bick, Pradeep Natarajan, Joshua Weinstock, Mindy D Szeto, Sekar Kathiresan, Goncalo Abecasis, Kent D Taylor, Xiuqing Guo, Russ Tracy, Peter Durda, Yongmei Liu, Craig Johnson, Stephen S Rich, David Van Den Berg, Cecilia Laurie, Tom Blackwell, George J Papanicolaou, Adolfo Correa, Laura M Raffield, Andrew D Johnson, Joanne Murabito, JoAnn E Manson, Pinkal Desai, Charles Kooperberg, Themistocles L Assimes, Daniel Levy, Jerome I Rotter, Alex P Reiner, Eric A Whitsel, James G Wilson, Steve Horvath, Siddhartha Jaiswal, .

  Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is a common precursor state for blood cancers that most frequently occurs due to mutations in the DNA-methylation modifying enzymes DNMT3A or TET2. We used DNA-methylation array and whole-genome sequencing data from four cohorts together comprising 5522 persons to study the association between CHIP, epigenetic clocks, and health outcomes. CHIP was strongly associated with epigenetic age acceleration, defined as the residual after regressing epigenetic clock age on chronological age, in several clocks, ranging from 1.31 years (GrimAge, p < 8.6 × 10-7 ) to 3.08 years (EEAA, p < 3.7 × 10-18 ). Mutations in most CHIP genes except DNA-damage response genes were associated with increases in several measures of age acceleration. CHIP carriers with mutations in multiple genes had the largest increases in age acceleration and decrease in estimated telomere length. Finally, we found that ~40% of CHIP carriers had acceleration >0 in both Hannum and GrimAge (referred to as AgeAccelHG+). This group was at high risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 2.90, p < 4.1 × 10-8 ) and coronary heart disease (CHD) (hazard ratio 3.24, p < 9.3 × 10-6 ) compared to those who were CHIP-/AgeAccelHG-. In contrast, the other ~60% of CHIP carriers who were AgeAccelHG- were not at increased risk of these outcomes. In summary, CHIP is strongly linked to age acceleration in multiple clocks, and the combination of CHIP and epigenetic aging may be used to identify a population at high risk for adverse outcomes and who may be a target for clinical interventions.

Keywords:  clonal hematopoiesis; epigenomics; heart disease

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.13366
Exp Gerontol. 2021 May 20. pii: S0531-5565(21)00188-1. [Epub ahead of print]151 111406

Sargahydroquinoic acid (SHQA) suppresses cellular senescence through Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Lei Cao, Sang Gil Lee, Sang-Hyug Park, Hyeung-Rak Kim.

  AIM: The effects of sargahydroquinoic acid (SHQA) on cellular senescence and the underlying mechanisms were investigated using human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs).METHODS: SHQA or DMSO was supplemented into the medium. Low dose of H2O2 was used to induce premature senescence. Replicative senescence was achieved by continuously culturing cells until they reached a plateau phase. Senescence biomarkers, including p53, p21, and p16 proteins, and SA-β-Gal activity were measured.
RESULTS: Pretreatment of SHQA significantly suppressed the oxidative stress-induced protein expression of p53, p21, and p16, as well as the activity of SA-β-Gal. Additionally, SHQA also delayed the replicative senescence as indicated by an increased population doubling number, reduced protein expression of p53, p21, and p16, as well as a decreased SA-β-Gal activity. SHQA inhibited the phosphorylation of Akt, mTOR, and downstream targets of mTOR, such as p-S6K, which was elevated by premature senescence and replicative senescence. In the absence of senescence stimuli, SHQA also inhibited the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and promoted autophagy.
CONCLUSIONS: SHQA suppressed senescence induced by oxidative stress and replication through inhibiting the Akt/mTOR pathway. With the potential of acting as an Akt/mTOR inhibitor, SHQA might be useful for developing anti-ageing therapy.

Keywords:  Akt; Endothelial cells; Sargahydroquinoic acid; Senescence; mTOR

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2021.111406
Aging (Albany NY). 2021 May 25. 13

Systemic NF-κB-mediated inflammation promotes an aging phenotype in skeletal stem/progenitor cells.

Anne Marie Josephson, Kevin Leclerc, Lindsey H Remark, Emma Muiños Lopeź, Philipp Leucht.

  Aging tissues undergo a progressive decline in regenerative potential. This decline in regenerative responsiveness has been attributed to changes in tissue-specific stem cells and their niches. In bone, aged skeletal stem/progenitor cell dysfunction is characterized by decreased frequency and impaired osteogenic differentiation potential. This aging phenotype ultimately results in compromised regenerative responsiveness to injury. The age-associated increase of inflammatory mediators, known as inflamm-aging, has been identified as the main culprit driving skeletal stem cell dysfunction. Here, we utilized a mouse model of parabiosis to decouple aging from inflammation. Using the Nfkb1-/- mouse as a model of inflamm-aging, we demonstrate that a shared systemic circulation between a wild-type and Nfkb1-/- mouse results in an aging phenotype of the wild-type skeletal stem and progenitor cells, shown by CFU-fs and osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation assays. Our findings demonstrate that exposure to an inflammatory secretome results in a phenotype similar to the one observed in aging.

Keywords:  aging; inflammation; nuclear factor kappa B; regeneration; skeletal stem cell

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203083
Front Neurol. 2021 ;12 660720

Microglia Phenotypes Converge in Aging and Neurodegenerative Disease.

Michael Candlish, Jasmin K Hefendehl.

  Microglia, the primary immune cells of the central nervous system, hold a multitude of tasks in order to ensure brain homeostasis and are one of the best predictors of biological age on a cellular level. We and others have shown that these long-lived cells undergo an aging process that impedes their ability to perform some of the most vital homeostatic functions such as immune surveillance, acute injury response, and clearance of debris. Microglia have been described as gradually transitioning from a homeostatic state to an activated state in response to various insults, as well as aging. However, microglia show diverse responses to presented stimuli in the form of acute injury or chronic disease. This complexity is potentially further compounded by the distinct alterations that globally occur in the aging process. In this review, we discuss factors that may contribute to microglial aging, as well as transcriptional microglia alterations that occur in old age. We then compare these distinct phenotypic changes with microglial phenotype in neurodegenerative disease.

Keywords:  aging; alzheimer's disease; microglia; neurodegeneration; senescence

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.660720
Cell Death Dis. 2021 May 22. 12(6): 527

Potential role of senescent macrophages in radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

Lulu Su, Yinping Dong, Yueying Wang, Yuquan Wang, Bowen Guan, Yanhua Lu, Jing Wu, Xiaochun Wang, Deguan Li, Aimin Meng, Feiyue Fan.

Radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis (RIPF) is a late toxicity of therapeutic radiation in clinic with poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Previous results have shown that senescent cells, such as fibroblast and type II airway epithelial cell, are strongly implicated in pathology of RIPF. However, the role of senescent macrophages in the development RIPF is still unknown. In this study, we report that ionizing radiation (IR) increase cellular senescence with higher expression of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal) and senescence-specific genes (p16, p21, Bcl-2, and Bcl-xl) in irradiated bone marrow-derived monocytes/macrophages (BMMs). Besides, there's a significant increase in the expression of pro-fibrogenic factors (TGF-β1 and Arg-1), senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) proinflammatory factors (Il-1α, Il-6, and Tnf-α), SASP chemokines (Ccl2, Cxcl10, and Ccl17), and SASP matrix metalloproteinases (Mmp2, Mmp9 and Mmp12) in BMMs exposed to 10 Gy IR. In addition, the percentages of SA-β-Gal+ senescent macrophages are significantly increased in the macrophages of murine irradiated lung tissue. Moreover, robustly elevated expression of p16, SASP chemokines (Ccl2, Cxcl10, and Ccl17) and SASP matrix metalloproteinases (Mmp2, Mmp9, and Mmp12) is observed in the macrophages of irradiated lung, which might stimulate a fibrotic phenotype in pulmonary fibroblasts. In summary, irradiation can induce macrophage senescence, and increase the secretion of SASP in senescent macrophages. Our findings provide important evidence that senescent macrophages might be the target for prevention and treatment of RIPF.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-021-03811-8
J Invest Dermatol. 2021 May 21. pii: S0022-202X(21)01226-4. [Epub ahead of print]

Peroxiredoxin 4 improved aging-related delayed wound healing in mice.

Reimon Yamaguchi, Xin Guo, Jianbo Zheng, Jing Zhang, Jia Han, Akihiro Shioya, Hidetaka Uramoto, Takashi Mochizuki, Sohsuke Yamada.

  Aging-related delayed wound healing is an issue of concern worldwide. Oxidative stress is involved in wound healing. Antioxidative enzymes have various roles in this process. Peroxiredoxin 4 (PRDX4), a member of the PRDX family, is upregulated after injury. To investigate the effects of PRDX4 on aging-related wound healing, we subjected C57BL/6J (wild-type [WT]), human PRDX4-transgenic (hPRDX4+/+), PRDX4-knockout (PRDX4-/y) mice of three age groups (young, adult and aged) to skin wound formation. The overexpression of PRDX4 accelerated wound healing in adult and aged mice, but not young mice. Aged hPRDX4+/+ mice showed reduced oxidative stress and inflammation, lower numbers of neutrophils, increased macrophage infiltration, increased angiogenesis, and increased growth factor levels. The granulation tissue of adult and aged hPRDX4+/+ mice was richer in fibroblasts in comparison to matched WT mice. PRDX4 deficiency was associated with mortality in adult and aged mice. In vitro, the overexpression of PRDX4 promoted the proliferation and migration of fibroblasts derived from adult or aged mice and made fibroblasts more resistant to the cytotoxicity of hydrogen peroxide. PRDX4 is essential for wound healing and can improve the healing process from multiple aspects, suggesting that it may be very beneficial to wound treatment, especially for the elderly.

Keywords:  PRDX4; fibroblast; granulation tissue; oxidative stress; wound healing

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jid.2021.04.015
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jun 01. pii: e2102088118. [Epub ahead of print]118(22):

Aging as a consequence of selection to reduce the environmental risk of dying.

Stig W Omholt, Thomas B L Kirkwood.

  Each animal in the Darwinian theater is exposed to a number of abiotic and biotic risk factors causing mortality. Several of these risk factors are intimately associated with the act of energy acquisition as such and with the amount of reserve the organism has available from this acquisition for overcoming temporary distress. Because a considerable fraction of an individual's lifetime energy acquisition is spent on somatic maintenance, there is a close link between energy expenditure on somatic maintenance and mortality risk. Here, we show, by simple life-history theory reasoning backed up by empirical cohort survivorship data, how reduction of mortality risk might be achieved by restraining allocation to somatic maintenance, which enhances lifetime fitness but results in aging. Our results predict the ubiquitous presence of senescent individuals in a highly diverse group of natural animal populations, which may display constant, increasing, or decreasing mortality with age. This suggests that allocation to somatic maintenance is primarily tuned to expected life span by stabilizing selection and is not necessarily traded against reproductive effort or other traits. Due to this ubiquitous strategy of modulating the somatic maintenance budget so as to increase fitness under natural conditions, it follows that individuals kept in protected environments with very low environmental mortality risk will have their expected life span primarily defined by somatic damage accumulation mechanisms laid down by natural selection in the wild.

Keywords:  aging; evolution; life-history modeling; mortality risk; senescence

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2102088118
Cancer Treat Res Commun. 2021 May 15. pii: S2468-2942(21)00097-6. [Epub ahead of print]28 100399

The emerging role of cellular senescence in complications of COVID-19.

Md Mohiuddin, Kazuo Kasahara.

  The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered a sudden global change in healthcare systems. Cancer patients have a higher risk of death from COVID-19 in comparison to patients without cancer. Many studies have stated that various factors, such as older age, frequent exposure to healthcare, and higher smoking rates are responsible for the complications of COVID-19. We hypothesize that side effects of chemotherapy, such as cellular senescence, could worsen COVID-19. Given this situation, in this review, we highlight the updated findings of research investigating the impact of cellular senescence on COVID-19 complications and explored potential therapeutic targets for eliminating senescent cells during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords:  COVID-19; Cancer; Chemotherapy; Pandemic; Senescence

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctarc.2021.100399
Nat Commun. 2021 May 25. 12(1): 3101

Cytosolic dsDNA of mitochondrial origin induces cytotoxicity and neurodegeneration in cellular and zebrafish models of Parkinson's disease.

Hideaki Matsui, Junko Ito, Noriko Matsui, Tamayo Uechi, Osamu Onodera, Akiyoshi Kakita.

Mitochondrial dysfunction and lysosomal dysfunction have been implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD), but the links between these dysfunctions in PD pathogenesis are still largely unknown. Here we report that cytosolic dsDNA of mitochondrial origin escaping from lysosomal degradation was shown to induce cytotoxicity in cultured cells and PD phenotypes in vivo. The depletion of PINK1, GBA and/or ATP13A2 causes increases in cytosolic dsDNA of mitochondrial origin and induces type I interferon (IFN) responses and cell death in cultured cell lines. These phenotypes are rescued by the overexpression of DNase II, a lysosomal DNase that degrades discarded mitochondrial DNA, or the depletion of IFI16, which acts as a sensor for cytosolic dsDNA of mitochondrial origin. Reducing the abundance of cytosolic dsDNA by overexpressing human DNase II ameliorates movement disorders and dopaminergic cell loss in gba mutant PD model zebrafish. Furthermore, IFI16 and cytosolic dsDNA puncta of mitochondrial origin accumulate in the brain of patients with PD. These results support a common causative role for the cytosolic leakage of mitochondrial DNA in PD pathogenesis.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23452-x
Aging Cell. 2021 May 27. e13372

Regulatory KIR+ RA+ T cells accumulate with age and are highly activated during viral respiratory disease.

Daan K J Pieren, Noortje A M Smits, Jeroen Hoeboer, Vinitha Kandiah, Rimke J Postel, Rob Mariman, Josine van Beek, Debbie van Baarle, Jelle de Wit, Teun Guichelaar.

  Severe respiratory viral infectious diseases such as influenza and COVID-19 especially affect the older population. This is partly ascribed to diminished CD8+ T-cell responses a result of aging. The phenotypical diversity of the CD8+ T-cell population has made it difficult to identify the impact of aging on CD8+ T-cell subsets associated with diminished CD8+ T-cell responses. Here we identify a novel human CD8+ T-cell subset characterized by expression of Killer-cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptors (KIR+ ) and CD45RA (RA+ ). These KIR+ RA+ T cells accumulated with age in the blood of healthy individuals (20-82 years of age, n = 50), expressed high levels of aging-related markers of T-cell regulation, and were functionally capable of suppressing proliferation of other CD8+ T cells. Moreover, KIR+ RA+ T cells were a major T-cell subset becoming activated in older adults suffering from an acute respiratory viral infection (n = 36), including coronavirus and influenza virus infection. In addition, older adults with influenza A infection showed that higher activation status of their KIR+ RA+ T cells associated with longer duration of respiratory symptoms. Together, our data indicate that KIR+ RA+ T cells are a unique human T-cell subset with regulatory properties that may explain susceptibility to viral respiratory disease at old age.

Keywords:  CD8+ T cells; T-cell activation; aging; killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors; regulatory T cells; respiratory viral infection; viral respiratory disease

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.13372
Cell Death Dis. 2021 May 25. 12(6): 533

MFG-E8 regulated by miR-99b-5p protects against osteoarthritis by targeting chondrocyte senescence and macrophage reprogramming via the NF-κB pathway.

Yuheng Lu, Liangliang Liu, Jianying Pan, Bingsheng Luo, Hua Zeng, Yan Shao, Hongbo Zhang, Hong Guan, Dong Guo, Chun Zeng, Rongkai Zhang, Xiaochun Bai, Haiyan Zhang, Daozhang Cai.

Milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor (EGF) factor 8 (MFG-E8), as a necessary bridging molecule between apoptotic cells and phagocytic cells, has been widely studied in various organs and diseases, while the effect of MFG-E8 in osteoarthritis (OA) remains unclear. Here, we identified MFG-E8 as a key factor mediating chondrocyte senescence and macrophage polarization and revealed its role in the pathology of OA. We found that MFG-E8 expression was downregulated both locally and systemically as OA advanced in patients with OA and in mice after destabilization of the medial meniscus surgery (DMM) to induce OA. MFG-E8 loss caused striking progressive articular cartilage damage, synovial hyperplasia, and massive osteophyte formation in OA mice, which was relieved by intra-articular administration of recombinant mouse MFG-E8 (rmMFG-E8). Moreover, MFG-E8 restored chondrocyte homeostasis, deferred chondrocyte senescence and reprogrammed macrophages to the M2 subtype to alleviate OA. Further studies showed that MFG-E8 was inhibited by miR-99b-5p, expression of which was significantly upregulated in OA cartilage, leading to exacerbation of experimental OA partially through activation of NF-κB signaling in chondrocytes. Our findings established an essential role of MFG-E8 in chondrocyte senescence and macrophage reprogramming during OA, and identified intra-articular injection of MFG-E8 as a potential therapeutic target for OA prevention and treatment.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-021-03800-x
Neurosci Res. 2021 May 20. pii: S0168-0102(21)00105-X. [Epub ahead of print]

Metformin reduces neuroinflammation and improves cognitive functions after traumatic brain injury.

Victoria L DiBona, Mihir K Shah, Kayla J Krause, Wenxin Zhu, Mikayla M Voglewede, Dana M Smith, David P Crockett, Huaye Zhang.

  Within the brain, traumatic brain injury (TBI) alters synaptic plasticity and increases neuroinflammation and neuronal death. Yet, there lacks effective TBI treatments providing pleiotropic beneficial effects on these diverse cellular processes necessary for functional recovery. Here, we show the diabetes drug, metformin, significantly improves cognitive functions after controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury in mice, showing improved spatial learning and nest building. Furthermore, injured animals treated with metformin exhibit increased ramification of microglia processes, indicating reduced neuroinflammation. Finally, metformin treatment in vitro increased neuronal activation of partitioning defective 1 (Par1), a family of Ser/Thr kinases playing a key role in synaptic plasticity. These results suggest metformin is a promising therapeutic agent for targeting multiple cellular processes necessary for functional TBI recovery.

Keywords:  Par1/MARK; TBI; metformin; microglia; neuroinflammation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neures.2021.05.007
Cell Death Dis. 2021 May 26. 12(6): 548

Roles of tRNA metabolism in aging and lifespan.

Zheng Zhou, Bao Sun, Dongsheng Yu, Meng Bian.

Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) mainly function as adapter molecules that decode messenger RNAs (mRNAs) during protein translation by delivering amino acids to the ribosome. Traditionally, tRNAs are considered as housekeepers without additional functions. Nevertheless, it has become apparent from biological research that tRNAs are involved in various physiological and pathological processes. Aging is a form of gradual decline in physiological function that ultimately leads to increased vulnerability to multiple chronic diseases and death. Interestingly, tRNA metabolism is closely associated with aging and lifespan. In this review, we summarize the emerging roles of tRNA-associated metabolism, such as tRNA transcription, tRNA molecules, tRNA modifications, tRNA aminoacylation, and tRNA derivatives, in aging and lifespan, aiming to provide new ideas for developing therapeutics and ultimately extending lifespan in humans.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-021-03838-x
Nat Metab. 2021 May;3(5): 588-589

Mitochondrial ROS signals prevent excessive immune response.

Kim Zarse, Michael Ristow.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-021-00387-7