Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
A research consortium funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has created the first large-scale atlas of senescent cells—cells that cease dividing but remain active in the body. These cells accumulate with age and are implicated in many age-related diseases, spurring efforts to better understand their roles in health and disease.
Senescent cells can aid wound healing and prevent tumor growth in healthy tissues, and are typically cleared by the immune system. However, as immune function declines with age, these cells build up and release harmful signals that may contribute to chronic disease and other age-associated conditions.
To address the difficulty of studying these rare and diverse cells, the NIH Common Fund launched the Cellular Senescence Network (SenNet) program in 2021 to identify and characterize senescent cells throughout the human body. The consortium has now published a series of papers introducing “senotypes,” a new classification system grouping senescent cells based on their locations and surrounding conditions, mapping their distribution and unique features.
Nicole Kleinstreuer, Ph.D., NIH Deputy Director for Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, noted that mapping senotypes will advance the understanding of senescent cells and support the development of targeted therapies. Such treatments could selectively remove harmful senescent cells while preserving those beneficial to the body.