11/04/2011 PERMALINK
Researchers have shown that eliminating cells that accumulate with age could prevent or delay the onset of age-related disorders and disabilities. A study by the Mayo Clinic, performed in mouse models, provides the first evidence that senescent cells accumulate with age could contribute to aging and suggests a way to help people stay healthier as they age. Scientists discovered that cells undergo a limited number of divisions before they stop dividing. At that point the cells reach a state of limbo, called cellular senescence, where they neither die nor continue to multiply. They produce factors that damage adjacent cells and cause tissue inflammation. This alternative cell fate is believed to be a mechanism to prevent runaway cell growth and the spread of cancer. The immune system sweeps out these dysfunctional cells on a regular basis, but over time becomes less effective at "keeping house." "By attacking these cells and what they produce, one day we may be able to break the link between aging mechanisms and predisposition to diseases like heart disease, stroke, cancers and dementia," says co-author James Kirkland, M.D., Ph.D., head of Mayo's Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging and the Noaber Foundation Professor of Aging Research. "There is potential for a fundamental change in the way we provide treatment for chronic diseases in older people."