Stimulate the killers
Researchers from the University of California at San Francisco have shown how immune cells naturally cleanse the body of malfunctioning or aging cells that contribute to aging and many chronic diseases.
In a healthy state, invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) function as a surveillance system, eliminating cells that the body perceives as foreign, including aging cells that have serious DNA damage. With age and other conditions, such as obesity, iNKT become less active, which contributes to the development of chronic diseases.
Stimulation of this natural surveillance system would be an alternative to senolytic therapy, which is currently the main strategy for removing aging cells and is not suitable for everyone due to systemic side effects.
An earlier study by the group revealed a link between iNKT cells and aging beta cells of the pancreas. Since aging cells tend to accumulate in many tissues and correlate with age-related disorders, the researchers suggested that iNKT activation could be used to treat a wide range of diseases.
iNKT cells have two characteristics that make them a particularly attractive target for use against aging and age-related diseases. Firstly, all inkts have a common receptor that is not found on any other cell in the body, so they can be activated without activating other types of immune cells. Secondly, by the mechanism of natural negative feedback, inkts are able to return to a state of rest after a period of activity.
Scientists have discovered that they can remove aging cells by using lipid antigens to activate iNKT cells. When mice with diet-related obesity were injected with lipid antigens, blood glucose levels improved, and mice with lung fibrosis had fewer damaged cells on the background of iNKT activation, and they also lived longer.
The authors emphasize that the results obtained in a mouse model of lung fibrosis give hope for the treatment of this potentially fatal disease, which often requires lung transplantation.
The mice tolerated the therapy quite well, so perhaps iNKT targeting will become an effective means of combating aging and related chronic diseases in a few years.
Article by S.Arora et al. Invariant natural killer T cells coordinate removal of senescent cells is published in the journal Med.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on UCSF materials: Scientists Find Mechanism that Eliminates Senescent Cells.