Latest / Hardiness with Dr Paul Taylor / Wisdom Wednesdays: Anti-aging strategies part 9: Combatting cellular senescence
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of Wisdom Wednesdays, and
- 0:13Speaker 1: welcome back to the Anti aging series. We are not
- 0:16Speaker 1: on number nine out of twelve and today we are
- 0:21Speaker 1: going to talk about cellular sinescence. So sinessnce is linked
- 0:26Speaker 1: to cell division, and there's very few sales in your
- 0:30Speaker 1: body that you're actually born with. And what we know
- 0:33Speaker 1: about ourselves is that they basically they commit suicide process
- 0:39Speaker 1: called apoptosis, but before they do that, they actually divide.
- 0:45Speaker 2: And then it turns.
- 0:46Speaker 1: Out that there is a limit to how often our
- 0:50Speaker 1: sales can actually divide. And this was first observed by
- 0:53Speaker 1: a guy called Leonard Hayflick in nineteen sixty five and
- 0:57Speaker 1: he showed that norman normal sorry human cells have a
- 1:02Speaker 1: limited capacity to proliferate or divide, and it was called
- 1:07Speaker 1: the Heyflick limit.
- 1:09Speaker 2: So this is where your.
- 1:11Speaker 1: Cells will stop dividing but actually remain metabolically active and
- 1:17Speaker 1: they kind of become a little bit.
- 1:19Speaker 2: Like zombie cells. So there's some.
- 1:22Speaker 1: Characteristics of sinescence cells. So the first is what we
- 1:26Speaker 1: call cell cycle arrest. This is where the sinescent cell
- 1:30Speaker 1: exit the sales cycle and they no longer divide, and
- 1:34Speaker 1: then you have something called sinescence associated secretory phenotype or SASP,
- 1:41Speaker 1: and that means that they secrete pro inflammatory cider kinds,
- 1:46Speaker 1: these messenger molecules that basically spread inflammation, and they secreate
- 1:51Speaker 1: growth factors and things called proteases that actually alter the
- 1:56Speaker 1: tissue macro environment and have a negative effect on surrounding cells.
- 2:02Speaker 1: And then there's this resistance to apoptosis that I talked about.
- 2:06Speaker 1: So that's where the sinescence cells resist program cell death,
- 2:11Speaker 1: leading to their accumulation over time, and that's when they
- 2:14Speaker 1: create a bit of molecular mayhem. So if you've ever
- 2:18Speaker 1: seen Game of Thrones, they're kind of like the White
- 2:22Speaker 1: Walkers in the body and we really don't want these.
- 2:25Speaker 1: So what happens, I'm how do we trigger this cellular sinescence. Well,
- 2:30Speaker 1: I've talked about teleomeres previously. Think of them like the
- 2:34Speaker 1: little caps on the end of your shoelases. And each
- 2:37Speaker 1: time the cell divides, that leads to progressive shortening of
- 2:41Speaker 1: the telomeres, these protective caps at the end of our chromosomes.
- 2:45Speaker 1: And when those telomeres become critically short, they trigger a
- 2:50Speaker 1: DNA damage response, which can often lead to sinescence. And
- 2:53Speaker 1: we talked about telomeres being one of the hallmarks of aging.
- 2:58Speaker 1: And then we have this DNA damage, so we know
- 3:01Speaker 1: exposure to things like oxidative stress, radiation, chemotherapy, they can
- 3:07Speaker 1: all cause DNA damage which can induce senescence. And we
- 3:12Speaker 1: get oxidive stress from lots of poor lifestyle choices as well.
- 3:16Speaker 1: And then we have something called oncle gene activation, so
- 3:20Speaker 1: you probably have heard of oncle genes, and the abnormal
- 3:23Speaker 1: activation of onco genes can induce senescence as a protective
- 3:28Speaker 1: mechanism against tumorogenesis or the creation of cancer. So it
- 3:33Speaker 1: can actually be protective when we're young, this senescence to
- 3:38Speaker 1: stop these uncle genes forming a big tumor. But as
- 3:43Speaker 1: we age, senescence and turns into a bad thing. So
- 3:46Speaker 1: it has this dual role. So as I said, the
- 3:49Speaker 1: beneficial affects tumor suppression by halting the proliferation of damage celles.
- 3:56Speaker 1: Senescence acts as a barrier against cancer development. And it's
- 4:00Speaker 1: also important in wound healing, So sinessin cells can promote
- 4:04Speaker 1: tissue repair by secreting factors that modulate the immune response
- 4:10Speaker 1: and facilitate regeneration. So that's the good part of senessen
- 4:14Speaker 1: So it's a natural process in the body. But the
- 4:17Speaker 1: detrimental aspects of sinessens are when we age and we
- 4:21Speaker 1: have this tissue dysfunction, and this accumulation of sinescence cells
- 4:26Speaker 1: contributes to this tissue dysfunction, chronic inflammation, and progression of
- 4:31Speaker 1: age related diseases. And then it can when we get older,
- 4:36Speaker 1: promote tumorogenesis. So these SASP cells I talked about them
- 4:43Speaker 1: a little bit earlier on those sinescence associated secretory phenotype.
- 4:48Speaker 2: As we get older, they.
- 4:50Speaker 1: Can create a pro inflammatory environment that supports the growth of.
- 4:55Speaker 2: These pre malignant cancer cells.
- 4:58Speaker 1: So, in summary, sestin can be a good thing when
- 5:01Speaker 1: we're young. It stops cancer developing, it helps with wound
- 5:04Speaker 1: healing as well, but as we age it can create
- 5:07Speaker 1: dysfunction and can then promote the growth of cancer.
- 5:11Speaker 2: So what do we actually do about it?
- 5:13Speaker 1: Well, it turns out there are quite a few things
- 5:15Speaker 1: that we can do to mitigate the impact.
- 5:18Speaker 2: Of cellular senescence.
- 5:20Speaker 1: And the first thing no prizes for guessing this is
- 5:24Speaker 1: regular physical activity and it has been shown to reduce
- 5:28Speaker 1: markers of cellular senescence and promote healthy aging. One of
- 5:33Speaker 1: the ways that it does this is by teleomere preservation.
- 5:37Speaker 1: Regular physical activities associated with longer telomeres, and it actually
- 5:41Speaker 1: activates the enzyme telomerase, which can actually help to preserve
- 5:47Speaker 1: our telomeres, and that means.
- 5:49Speaker 2: That you reduce your cellular aging.
- 5:51Speaker 1: And then the second way by which exercise is useful
- 5:56Speaker 1: is reduction of sinescence cells. So it's been shown that
- 5:59Speaker 1: exercise can decrease the accumulation of sinescence cells, thereby improving
- 6:05Speaker 1: tissue function. And this can actually be improved by exercising
- 6:10Speaker 1: in the fasted state increases a tophogy and that clean
- 6:15Speaker 1: up within muscle sales and it can remove those sinescence cells.
- 6:19Speaker 1: And there's a study published in Preventative Medicine that found
- 6:22Speaker 1: that individuals who engage in regular running had longer telomeres
- 6:27Speaker 1: that equated to approximately nine years of reduced biological aging
- 6:32Speaker 1: compared to sedentary counterparts.
- 6:35Speaker 2: So the second way.
- 6:36Speaker 1: That we can do it is around diet, because diet
- 6:40Speaker 1: plays a critical role in modulating cellular senescence. And we
- 6:44Speaker 1: know that calorie restriction either long term calorie restriction. I've
- 6:48Speaker 1: talked about the pros and cons of that before, or
- 6:52Speaker 1: intermittent fasting, and that's actually been linked to the delayed
- 6:57Speaker 1: onset of cellular senescence, and it's been owned in various
- 7:00Speaker 1: different organisms that it can extend their lifespan, but that
- 7:03Speaker 1: hasn't been replicated.
- 7:05Speaker 2: In humans, just to be a war.
- 7:06Speaker 1: But then eating anti inflammatory foods. We know that foods
- 7:11Speaker 1: such as amiga three fatty acids are highly anti inflammatory,
- 7:14Speaker 1: and also foods that are rich in antioxidants and things
- 7:18Speaker 1: like extra virgin olive oil. They can all mitigate oxidative
- 7:23Speaker 1: stress and therefore reduce senescence. And there was a study
- 7:29Speaker 1: that showed that individuals who consumed a diet that was
- 7:33Speaker 1: anti inflammatory with lots of amiga three fatty acids, fruits, vegetables,
- 7:38Speaker 1: these sorts of things had reduced risk of chronic diseases
- 7:42Speaker 1: that were associated with sinescence. Then the third thing is
- 7:46Speaker 1: around stress management. And so I've talked before about the
- 7:51Speaker 1: impact of stress at a cellular level, and it's been
- 7:54Speaker 1: shown that elevated stress levels are associated with accelerated TeleMe
- 8:00Speaker 1: tell me or sorry shortening, leading to increased cellular senescence
- 8:05Speaker 1: and inflammation. So stress causes inflammation at a cellular level,
- 8:11Speaker 1: and that promotes the onset of sinessence in various cell types.
- 8:16Speaker 1: So making sure that you are using effective stress management techniques,
- 8:22Speaker 1: trying to avoid things that are highly stressful, and then
- 8:26Speaker 1: using things like exercise, meditation, and those sorts of things,
- 8:31Speaker 1: having hobbies, those can actually then slow telling me are
- 8:36Speaker 1: shortening and reduce hallmarks of aging. And what I mean
- 8:39Speaker 1: by that is overall stress management techniques have been shown
- 8:42Speaker 1: to do that. And then the fourth thing you'll not
- 8:45Speaker 1: be surprised to hear is about quality sleep. Because when
- 8:49Speaker 1: you're asleep, your DNA repair mechanisms kicking right, and that
- 8:55Speaker 1: reduces the likelihood of damage induced sinescence. As so, if
- 8:59Speaker 1: we're having poor sleep, we're not repairing our DNA and
- 9:03Speaker 1: therefore you're more likely to get senescence. And sleep is
- 9:07Speaker 1: also important for hormone regulation, things like melatonin and other hormones,
- 9:12Speaker 1: and melatonin actually has antioxidant properties that actually protects against
- 9:17Speaker 1: cellular damage. So making sure that we have quality sleep
- 9:20Speaker 1: because the studies have shown that individuals with poor sleep
- 9:24Speaker 1: quality or shorter sleep exhibit shorter telomeres and have higher
- 9:29Speaker 1: levels of cellular senescence markers. Now there's one other thing
- 9:35Speaker 1: that is emerging at the minute, and that is these
- 9:39Speaker 1: therapeutics called senalytics. So snalytics are a class of drugs
- 9:44Speaker 1: and molecules that are designed to selectively eliminate senescence cells
- 9:51Speaker 1: and therefore mitigating their detrimental effects on the surrounding tissues
- 9:56Speaker 1: and minimizing aging.
- 9:58Speaker 2: And there's a.
- 9:58Speaker 1: Number of and potential senalytic e agents that are actually
- 10:04Speaker 1: being looked at at the minute. One is cursed curstin
- 10:10Speaker 1: q u e r c E t i n and
- 10:14Speaker 1: dasatinib d A s A t I n i B.
- 10:18Speaker 1: That's a bit of a mouthful to try saying that
- 10:20Speaker 1: after a few drinks, dacatinib and cursotin. Now that combination
- 10:25Speaker 1: has actually been shown to clear sinescent cells in pre
- 10:29Speaker 1: clinical studies and actually improve physical function in aged mice
- 10:35Speaker 1: and humans, and early human trials suggest that there are
- 10:38Speaker 1: potential benefits for individuals with things like osteoarthritis and idiopathic
- 10:45Speaker 1: pulmonary fibrosis.
- 10:46Speaker 2: Right.
- 10:47Speaker 1: Then, another molecule called phisotin. This is a flavonoid that's
- 10:53Speaker 1: found in things like strawberries, apples, onions, and it has
- 10:57Speaker 1: actually got demonstrated s analytic activity in lots of animal
- 11:01Speaker 1: studies and improves the health span and reduces markers of sinescence.
- 11:06Speaker 1: And then there's a drug called navital clax and that
- 11:12Speaker 1: was originally developed as a cancer drug, but it's actually
- 11:15Speaker 1: been shown to induce apoptosis or program cell death in
- 11:19Speaker 1: sinescence cells. But there are a number of side effects
- 11:23Speaker 1: that actually remain their concerned. So there's actually quite a
- 11:26Speaker 1: few human trials that are going on right now. I
- 11:29Speaker 1: wouldn't be dashing out and buying dasatinib and curstin or fystin,
- 11:35Speaker 1: although I do have my eye on these things. But
- 11:38Speaker 1: the Male Clinic is actually doing some synolytic trials and
- 11:43Speaker 1: looking at dacatinib and cursotin in older adults to evaluate
- 11:50Speaker 1: its effects on physical function and inflammatory markers and chronic diseases.
- 11:55Speaker 1: And then Unity Biotechnology is actually conducting some clinical trials
- 12:00Speaker 1: on senalytic drugs for osteoarthritis, age related macular degeneration, and
- 12:06Speaker 1: neurodegenerative diseases. And then there's there's there's quite a big
- 12:09Speaker 1: study going on called the Team Study, and that is
- 12:14Speaker 1: targeting aging with met form and t a m UH
- 12:18Speaker 1: and a low met form. It is not a senalytic.
- 12:22Speaker 1: This big study is investigating whether met forming, which is
- 12:26Speaker 1: an anti diabetic drugs some people may have heard of,
- 12:29Speaker 1: whether or not it can slow the aging process, and
- 12:32Speaker 1: one of the things that they're looking at is its
- 12:34Speaker 1: impact on cellular senescence. So, although I actually think that
- 12:39Speaker 1: some of these snalytics hold great promise, more research is
- 12:44Speaker 1: needed before I part with my hard earned cash on
- 12:46Speaker 1: those and I do want to see the studies showing
- 12:49Speaker 1: their long term safety and their effectiveness, and then critically,
- 12:54Speaker 1: what doos do we actually need in humans?
- 12:57Speaker 2: So I think it's going to be a number of
- 12:59Speaker 2: years before we know.
- 13:00Speaker 1: The answers to all those questions. But in summing up,
- 13:04Speaker 1: cellular sinessence is a double edged sword. It protects against
- 13:08Speaker 1: cancer and use, but it also contributes to inflammation, tissue dysfunction,
- 13:14Speaker 1: and aging as those sinescence.
- 13:16Speaker 2: Sales start to accumulate.
- 13:18Speaker 1: But fortunately we know that regular exercise and nutrient rich
- 13:23Speaker 1: anti inflammatory diet, stress management and quality sleep, and potentially
- 13:28Speaker 1: synolytic therapies can all help to mitigate the negative effects
- 13:32Speaker 1: of cellular sinessence and promote healthy aging. That's it for
- 13:36Speaker 1: this week, folks, Catch you next time.