Israeli researchers believe they have found a way to identify and remove senescent cells by adapting new cancer treatments.
A team of scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot used a cancer treatment technique to track zombie cells by the protein they secrete, PD-L1, and kill them. So far, the trials have been carried out on mice using an antibody that has already been approved to treat cancer. It is hoped that the antibody could eventually be used in humans.
In mice that were either old or had lung problems, the antibody successfully activated immune system warrior T cells, leading to a reduction in the number of senescent cells.
Zombie cells are senescent cells that have stopped dividing but do not die. In young people, such cells are usually cleared by the immune system and make up only about 1% of all cells in the body. However, in older people they remain and can make up up to 15% of cells in some tissues. They cause chronic inflammation, slow tissue repair and accelerate aging.
The study, led by Dr. Yulia Mayevskaya and Dr. Amit Agrawal in the laboratory of Professor Valery Krizhanovsky in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, was published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.