When do we age? Is it in our 60s onwards or even before that? Can we slow down ageing? A recent study may have answered these questions.
Israeli researchers announced the discovery of a set of cells that could help to slow down ageing. The senescent cells are the cells that can no longer divide and this leads to tissue damage, eventually causing disease. However, the researchers discovered a certain kind of lymphocytes, also known as white blood cells, which steal the show.
These cells, known as T helper cells, can help in the identification of cancerous cells within the body. What the experts did not know was the unique qualities of the cells, till it was revealed through another study that people who lived beyond 100 years had plenty of these cells.
“Senescent cells (SCs) accumulate with age, but how the immune system regulates their burden is unclear. Here we show that CD4 T cells differentiate into Eomesodermin (Eomes)+CCL5+ T lymphocytes (CD4-Eomes) in a SC-rich environment and that a reduction in the SC load, achieved using senolytic drugs, was sufficient to halt this differentiation. We further demonstrate that eliminating CD4-Eomes cells at advanced age by selectively deleting the Eomes transcription factor in CD4 T cells results in increased accumulation of SCs, profound physical deterioration and a decreased lifespan,” mentioned the study.
“We found these cytotoxic T helper cells can be very effective in reducing the burden of senescent cells, allowing tissues to regenerate and recover,” said Monsonego of Ben-Gurion’s Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics in the Faculty of Health Sciences to The Times of Israel.
The findings of the study were published in the Nature Aging journal. The research team hopes that the observations will lead to treatments and protocols that will improve healthy ageing.
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