Researchers have found a noninvasive way to identify and study cells in the body that contribute to age-related disorders such as cancer, tissue degeneration, and inflammatory diseases.
These so-called senescent cells have stopped dividing and growing but for some reason have not died, as would be expected of old cells. Instead, they undergo significant changes to their shape, metabolic processes, and gene activity.
Earlier methods of studying these cells would destroy them, the researchers noted in a report of the study in Nature Aging.
Using an analytical technique known as Raman microscopy, which reveals the biochemical composition of cells without harming them, and analyzing individual cells’ genetic activity, the researchers were able to identify unique “barcodes” of senescent cells.
The study was done in mouse cells. The researchers are now working on adapting it for use with human tissue.
“You can imagine that one day we may develop an endoscope that can look inside your body and identify cellular senescence,” Jeon Woong Kang of MIT, one of the senior authors of the study, said in a statement.
Study leader Peter So of MIT noted that senescence "is not just a pathological condition.”
While it can also contribute to sagging skin and muscle weakness in aging individuals, cellular senescence plays critical beneficial roles in embryonic development and tissue regeneration, the researchers noted.
The research is part of a National Institutes of Health initiative called the Cellular Senescence Network.
“The idea behind the NIH Cellular Senescence Network is to take a very comprehensive approach to understand senescence and identify senescent cells, because it plays a role in so many normal physiological conditions and many pathological conditions,” So said.
