Drugs that selectively kill senescent cells improved health in mice
In short: A study in mice found that eliminating 'senescent' cells with a new class of drugs called senolytics improved heart function and physical performance, and slowed signs of aging and frailty without needing genetic modification.
Researchers found that senescent cells survive by activating pro-survival pathways including ephrins, PI3Kδ, p21, and BCL-xL. Blocking these pathways with existing drugs such as dasatinib and quercetin selectively killed senescent cells in human cell cultures and several mouse models, without harming healthy, proliferating cells.
In mice, a single dose improved cardiac function and blood vessel function within days, and the effects on exercise capacity lasted for months. A key limitation is that these benefits were shown in mice, not people, so whether senolytics work the same way in humans remains unknown.
Why it matters: Selectively clearing senescent cells with drugs already in use for other purposes may be a feasible way to improve healthspan, though this is currently shown only in mice.
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Sources
- Source: Research: Zhu et al. (2015). The Achilles’ heel of senescent cells: from transcriptome to senolytic drugs. Aging Cell. · cc-by
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