Cell Aging

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Summary By 2050 the number of people in the world that will be aged 65 or older is expected to nearly triple to about 1.5 billion, representing 16% of the world’s population. One aspect of aging involves a diminished capacity to repair tissues after injury. This diminished capacity is evident in certain conditions that occur with aging, such as anemia, sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass), and osteoporosis. Deterioration of adult stem cells accounts for much of aging-associated compromised tissue maintenance. Adult stem cells mostly reside in a metabolically inactive quiescent state to preserve their integrity, but convert to a metabolically active proliferative state to replenish the tissue. The signals that trigger stem cells to exit the cell cycle and re-enter quiescence, and the signal transduction leading to the transition remain elusive however.  UC Berkeley researchers have developed methods of reversing and preventing the aging of stem cells by activating the mitochondrial unfolded protein response in a stem cell. Other aspects of the technology relate to methods of preventing and/or reversing tissue degeneration or injury.   Uses Drug targets for the treatment of aging diseases or tissue degeneration or injury Study of age-related diseases   Advantages Specific target for anti-aging compound screens may enable rationale design of drug targets