Your skin is raw with zombies. Zombie skin cells, or so. This sci-fi sound term is used to describe it Aging skin cells It lives longer than their usefulness, but never actually dies. Some senescent cells are inflamed Speed up aging elsewhere in the bodyothers can do it Helps the immune system heal wounds.
Now you may know why zombie skin cells have this double agent-like presence. Not all aged skin cells are the same. In reality, there are three subtypes with different shapes, biomarkers and functions. Understanding the difference can help scientists target harmful types of cells while leaving beneficial cells. The findings are explained in a Research published in the journal on April 25th Advances in science.
“We know that senescent skin cells are different from senescent immune cells or senescent muscle cells. However, in cell types, senescent cells are often considered the same, such as whether or not skin cells are senescent. said in a statement. “However, we found that when skin cells enter an aging, or zombie-like state, the cells can go down one of three different pathways, each of which can lead to slightly different subtypes.”
Comparison of skin cells
in New researchthe team used machine learning and imaging technology to compare skin cells samples. The samples came from 50 healthy donors between the ages of 20 and 90. A longitudinal Baltimore study of aging. This NIH-funded project is the longest-on-going research into aging in the United States.
The team extracted it A cell called a fibroblast From the skin. Fibroblasts produce internal scaffolds that give structure to skin tissue. They pushed fibroblasts towards senescence by damaging the DNA that occurs with aging. Senescent cells It accumulates naturally as people agetherefore, aged samples in the lab contained a mixture of healthy/non-mencent and aged fibroblasts in the end.
Then they used Special dyes Images of cell shape were captured and stained for elements known to show senescent cells. The algorithm developed for this study analyzed images, measured 87 different physical properties of each cell, and sorted the fibroblasts into groups.
Three types of “zombie cells”
They found it Fibroblasts come in 11 different shapes and sizes. Three of these are aged skin cells and Researchers labeled them C7, C10, and C11. There was only one subtype of aged fibroblast-C10. It was more common in older donors.
To see more, the team was exposed to existing drug regimens designed to place each subtype in Petri dishes and target and kill zombie cells. When exposed to these therapeutic agents, each subtype responded differently. For example, dasatinib + quercetin, a Drugs currently under test in clinical trialsthe most effectively killed C7 senescent fibroblasts. However, dasatinib + Quercetin-But was more limited in killing age-related C10 senescent fibroblasts.
Although more studies are needed to see which fibroblast subtypes are harmful and which are useful, the results here show that drugs can target one subtype rather than the other. More harmful zombie cells can Contributes to diseases related to aging Dementia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc.
“With our new discoveries, there are tools ready to develop new drugs or treatments that prioritize targeting the aging subtypes that drive inflammation and disease as soon as they identify inflammation or disease,” Philip said.
[ Related: Lab-grown, self-healing human skin designed to cover robot faces. ]
Applications for cancer treatment
In the future, more accurate targeting of aging may benefit cancer treatment. Researchers are Adjust specific treatments to cause cancer cells agingby converting uncontrolled replicating cancer cells into zombie cells. These types of treatments can stop tumor growth, but senescent cells remain afterwards.
Additionally, traditional chemotherapy moves cells like fibroblasts towards aging as a side effect. In patients, this accumulation of senescent cells can be problematic as these cells can promote inflammation if the immune system is the most vulnerable.
Patients can also benefit from drugs administered after chemotherapy, which acts like an accurate zombie cell broom and wipes out messy cells. These types of treatments are called Net-shaped.
The team in this study will look at the aging subtypes of tissue samples across the lab to see how these three subtypes are associated with skin disease and age-related diseases.
“We hope that some developments will use our technology to predict which drugs will work to target senescent cells that contribute to a particular disease,” Philip said. “Ultimately, the dream is to provide more information in a clinical setting, helping individual diagnosis and improving health outcomes.”
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