Longevity Papers

How aging of human neurons affects dynamics of essential organelle such as mitochondria and autophagosomes remains largely unknown. MicroRNA-induced directly reprogrammed neurons (miNs) derived from adult fibroblasts retain age-associated signatures of the donor, enabling the study of age-dependent features in human neurons, including longitudinal isogenic samples. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that neurons derived from elderly individuals are characterized by gene expression changes associated with the regulation of autophagosomes, lysosomes, and mitochondria, compared to young counterparts. To clarify these changes at the cellular level, we performed live-cell imaging of cellular organelles in miNs from donors of different ages. Older donor miNs exhibit decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, which surprisingly co-occurs with a significant increase in mitochondrial fission and fusion events. We posit that the increased fission and fusion of mitochondria may reflect age-dependent compensation for impaired mitochondrial turnover, perhaps due to changes in macroautophagy/autophagy. We subsequently identified a significant decrease in autophagosome acidification in neurons derived from individuals > 65 years compared to younger donors, and a corresponding age-dependent reduction in neuritic lysosomes resulting in fewer lysosomes available to acidify autophagosomes. This age-dependent deficit in autolysosome flux was rescued by promoting autophagosome generation through TFEB, which also reversed the age-dependent increase in mitochondrial fission and fusion and improved mitochondrial health. Partial organelle recovery occurred after inducing mitophagy or inhibiting mitochondrial fission. Together, this work reveals a mechanism by which aging reduces autophagic flux secondary to a loss of neuritic lysosomes, resulting in mitochondria-intrinsic mechanisms to avoid loss of energy production.

Sarcopenia, the age-related decline in skeletal muscle mass and function, profoundly affects skeletal muscle structure and performance. We present a spatial transcriptomic atlas of skeletal muscle from young and aged mice, resolving transcriptional reprogramming across fiber types and tissue compartments. Our analyses reveal alterations in sarcomeric organization, excitation-contraction coupling, oxidative stress responses, and fiber type-specific metabolic rewiring. Conserved molecular signatures across muscles and species highlight Car3 as a potential biomarker of sarcopenia. We also uncover a selective downregulation of polyamine biosynthetic enzymes, leading to reduced spermidine levels in aged muscle. This decline affects muscle-resident populations, as limiting polyamine metabolic flux in both murine and human fibro-adipogenic progenitors (hFAPs) induces aging-like features, including myofibroblast differentiation, extracellular matrix dysregulation, and impaired ability to support myogenesis. Together, our findings reveal spatially organized, fiber type-specific, and polyamine-linked mechanisms of muscle aging and position the polyamine pathway as a promising therapeutic target.

Endolysosomal membranes are frequently damaged by pathogenic stress associated with aging, infection, and neurodegeneration, and failure to repair such damage leads to inflammation and cell death. Recent advances identify membrane ATG8 conjugation (atg8ylation) as a key process that links damage detection to coordinated lysosomal repair, removal, and regeneration. Beyond its canonical role in macroautophagy, membrane atg8ylation also occurs on preexisting, non-autophagosomal single membranes through Conjugation of ATG8s to Single Membranes (CASM), positioning this pathway as a rapid response to membrane stress. Two E3-like ligase complexes, ATG16L1-ATG5-ATG12 and TECPR1-ATG5-ATG12, act as complementary sensors of lysosomal injury by detecting distinct physicochemical cues, including proton gradient collapse and lipid scrambling. These ligases convert damage signals into spatially restricted membrane atg8ylation, generating a membrane-associated platform that coordinates multiple downstream pathways. These include ESCRT-dependent membrane repair, ER-lysosome lipid transfer, membrane tubulation, and stress granule formation. When repair fails, membrane atg8ylation regulates lysophagy and activates lysosomal biogenesis and regeneration to restore lysosomal homeostasis. These emerging findings define membrane atg8ylation as a central organizer of membrane quality control rather than a pathway merely confined to macroautophagy. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of how membrane atg8ylation detects lysosomal damage and how this pathway coordinates other lysosomal quality control mechanisms to maintain lysosomal integrity.

The abundance of mRNA sets a ceiling on a cell's capacity to produce protein and carry out its functions. Here, we describe a pathological decline in absolute mRNA abundance that occurs in most cell types during invertebrate and mammalian aging, caused by decreases in mRNA synthesis capacity. In C. elegans, decreases in mRNA abundance are tightly coupled to declines in RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) protein abundance. Measuring Pol II abundance dynamics in vivo, we find that individuals enter adulthood with a four-fold excess of Pol II, whose kinetic equilibration towards its homeostatic set point drives reductions in mRNA abundance and, in turn, organismal aging. Briefly accelerating Pol II declines produces permanent, dose-dependent reductions in healthspan and lifespan, whereas deceleration extends both. Although disrupted cellular homeostasis is conventionally seen as a consequence of aging, our results reveal how an out-of-equilibrium state established during development provides a driving force for aging.

As global population aging accelerates, maintaining locomotor function in later life has become a critical biomedical challenge. This study investigates the effects of three bioactive compounds-Luteolin (Lut), Glycitein (Gly), and α-Spinasterol (α-Spin)-isolated from the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Codonopsis pilosula (Dangshen), on age-related locomotor decline using the Caenorhabditis elegans (C.elegans) model. We demonstrate that Lut and Gly significantly ameliorate the deterioration of body bend and thrashing frequencies in aged nematodes. Further analysis reveals that both compounds mitigate age-associated sarcopenia by reducing abnormalities in muscle structure and mitochondrial morphology. Mechanistically, we found that the beneficial effects of Lut and Gly on locomotion are dependent on the transcription factor DAF-16/FOXO, as both compounds promote DAF-16 nuclear translocation and the effects are abolished upon daf-16 knockdown. However, these compounds diverge in their regulation of autophagy: Lut improves locomotion through an lgg-1-dependent autophagy-related process, whereas Gly exerts its effects independently of the autophagic pathway. In contrast, α-Spin, despite altering autophagosome levels, did not improve locomotor capacity. These findings elucidate the distinct pharmacological mechanisms of Codonopsis pilosula constituents, highlighting their potential as modulators of healthspan via DAF-16-dependent but mechanistically distinct pathways.

Telomere dysfunction and the telomeric DNA damage response (tDDR) activation correlate with aging and age-related diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, a causal role for tDDR in IPF pathogenesis has not been determined. IPF patients frequently bear germline mutations in telomerase genes, critically short telomeres, and markers of tDDR and cellular senescence. We previously demonstrated that telomeric antisense-oligonucleotides (tASOs) targeting telomeric non-coding RNAs are selective tDDR inhibitors. Here, we employed late-generation telomerase knockout mice as a genetic model of IPF. Systemic tASOs treatment reduces DDR-including in stem/progenitor cells-inflammation, and lung fibrosis in young, adult, and old mice. Markers of DDR correlate with lung pathology, and tDDR inhibition normalizes molecular and pathological phenotypes, uncoupling telomere lengths from their deleterious consequences. Transcriptomic changes in telomerase knockout mice recapitulate those observed in normal aged mice and in IPF patients, and they are reversed upon tDDR inhibition. These results highlight the pathogenic causative relevance of tDDR activation in IPF pathogenesis and support tASOs as a promising therapeutic strategy for IPF and for telomere biology diseases.

Aging is characterized by a decline in function of intestinal stem cells (ISCs), but the extent to which this is shaped by systemic factors is unclear. Here we show that the ISC aging phenotype can be propagated from old to young mice utilizing heterochronic parabiosis, and implicate a role for inflammation in these effects, as anti-inflammatory drugs, including TNF antibodies, restored function. Parabiotic rescue experiments demonstrate that TNFR1 knockout protected young ISCs from the old environment. In young organoids, TNF downregulated crypt budding, while impairing mitochondrial pathways and fatty acid oxidation (FAO). However, aged ISC function was enhanced by boosting mitochondrial fusion, whereas FAO in aged crypts was improved by countering inflammation with salicylate treatment. Thus, these data identify the old environment through the progeronic factor TNF, as a driver of ISC aging phenotypes through intestinal epithelial cell TNF receptor 1 signaling to downregulate FAO, proliferation and regenerative capacity in these cells.

Clonal hematopoiesis of undetermined potential (CHIP), initially discovered as a mere hematological curiosity, now represents a clinically significant factor that is changing our view of ageing, inflammaging and the risk of age-related diseases (ARDs). In line with this, new meta-analyses link the presence of CHIP to higher all-cause mortality from ARDs and to an increase in adverse events in the presence of larger clones. Mechanistically, CHIP induces inflammaging, but a bidirectional relationship has also been highlighted. In both cases, the pro-inflammatory pathways primarily involved are IL-1β/IL-6 signaling, activation of the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, and Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs). However, these pathways only partially explain the role of CHIP in the complex pathophysiology of ARDs. Despite this, it is proposing it as an ARDs biomarker and pharmacological target for their prevention. However, the clinical risk of CHIP triggering the onset and severe progression of ARDs depends on the mutation type, clone size, co-mutations, and host and environmental factors, and current high-risk models require adjustments to overcome some limitations. Omics technique can likely be integrated into CHIP mutation sequencing to predict and monitor ARDs risk. Consequently, pragmatic screening strategies currently remain limited. Furthermore, although potential therapeutic targets exist, translating the findings into effective interventions is currently challenging. Ethical, patient-centered clinical trial designs with validated endpoints are essential to avoid over medicalization and ensure safety, feasibility, and generalizability, as is the use of artificial intelligence. An overview of these aspects is reported in such review.

Dioscin, a naturally occurring steroidal saponin isolated from various kinds of herbs with pleiotropic pharmacological properties, remains mechanistically undefined regarding its mammalian aging modulation. This study discovered that dioscin extended the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans. Concurrently, dioscin improved the motor function of C. elegans and reduced age pigment accumulation, while having no effect on the reproductive performance of the C. elegans. By pathway screening, we identified that dioscin extends healthspan via the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response (UPR

Cardiac aging is a central biological process underlying most cardiovascular diseases. Lysosomes, once regarded as terminal degradative compartments, are now recognized as dynamic metabolic and signaling hubs whose dysfunction has profound consequences for the aging heart. Human lysosomal storage disorders provide compelling evidence that isolated lysosomal defects are sufficient to cause early cardiomyopathy, underscoring the myocardium's exceptional dependence on sustained lysosomal competence. In physiological aging, impaired autophagy is the most apparent manifestation of lysosomal decline but represents only one facet of a broader network regulating nutrient sensing, ion and lipid homeostasis, receptor trafficking, exocytosis/secretion and inter-organelle communication. Here, we review established and emerging lysosome-dependent mechanisms across the hallmarks of cardiac aging, highlighting lysosomes as potential upstream drivers of this process. We discuss key knowledge gaps and therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring lysosomal function, positioning lysosomes as central and actionable targets for preserving cardiac resilience with age.

Time-restricted feeding (TRF) is a promising dietary strategy for delaying metabolic aging, yet its efficacy in cardioprotection across metabolic stages remains poorly understood. This study demonstrates that a 10-h TRF window significantly mitigates cardiac aging phenotypes including fibrosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, and senescence-associated secretory phenotype in prediabetic mice, whereas these protective effects are largely blunted at the diabetic stage, despite improving systemic metabolism in both prediabetic and diabetic models. Mechanistically, TRF acts as a chronotherapeutic cue that restores the diurnal oscillations of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing gut microbiota. These rhythmic SCFAs serve as peripheral "metabolic zeitgebers" that resynchronize cardiac diurnal rhythms autophagy. In vitro, SCFAs enhance autophagic flux and preserve mitochondrial integrity in senescent cardiomyocytes. Crucially, the cardioprotective benefits of TRF are largely abolished in p62-deficient mice, identifying p62-dependent autophagy and mitochondrial homeostasis as a key molecular mechanism underlying TRF efficacy. In overt diabetes, the loss of TRF-mediated protection is attributed to a profound "metabolic rigidity" that prevents restoration of autophagic rhythmicity. Overall, our findings reveal that TRF prevents cardiac aging by entraining the gut microbiota-SCFA-cardiac p62 axis during the prediabetic stage, highlighting a critical metabolic window for dietary intervention.

The liver is organized into tightly regulated zones with distinct metabolic functions but zonation erodes with age. Cellular senescence contributes to aging and liver diseases, however, its impact on aging biology is ill-defined. As part of The Cellular Senescence Network Consortium, we used multiple spatial transcriptomics approaches (GeoMx, Visium, CosMx) with snRNA-seq to profile senescence signatures, zonation markers, and metabolic pathways in livers from wild-type (WT) mice of multiple ages. We observed a loss of canonical zone signatures in aged mouse livers characterized by 'expansion' of midlobular (zone 2) marker gene expression, accompanied by diminished expression of zone 3 marker genes by middle-age (18 months), indicative of loss of cell identity. Multiple analytic approaches identified distinct age-, zone- and sex-specific senescence signatures, which were significantly associated with zonation markers changes. This was recapitulated in Ercc1 mutant models of accelerated senescence, supporting a causal role of senescent cells in liver aging. A 'no-zone' hepatocyte-like cluster expanded with age and with the strongest Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP) profile. Gene expression profiles from senescent hepatocytes implicate decreased WNT signaling and increased BMP as contributing to age-related loss of zonation. Together, these data elucidate the role of senescent cells in driving aging biology in non-diseased liver through disruption of cell:cell signaling and the loss of metabolic and cell identity gene expression necessary for hepatocyte function.

Drugs that slow the rate of organismal aging (geroprotectors) have the potential to improve human healthspan by preventing the development of multiple chronic diseases. The nematode C. elegans is a proven system for identifying anti-aging drugs, but methods for candidate nomination that scale to high throughput remain limited and have not been widely adopted. To accelerate the discovery process, we have developed an open-source AI-enabled screening platform that provides a rapid, automated, posture-based score of C. elegans survival. We used this workflow to screen a library of 2,782 FDA-approved drugs and identified 31 compounds that reproducibly increase heat stress resistance, a known predictor of longevity. Follow-up studies confirmed that many of these compounds confer lifespan extension in worms, and several compounds also have anti-senescent activity in human cells. This simplified and adaptable AI-enabled workflow therefore has the potential to accelerate the discovery of translatable drugs that slow aging.