Senescence (the process of growing old) drives the onset and severity of multiple ageing-associated diseases and frailty. As a result, there has been an increased interest in mechanistic studies and the search for compounds targeting senescent cells. Current methods are both expensive and time consuming but researchers from the ±¬ÁϹ«Éç’s Healthy Lifespan Institute have found an answer to the problem.
Led by Professor Ilaria Bellantuono co-director of The Healthy Lifespan Institute and Professor Steve Renshaw from the Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease, researchers have developed a new model which allows tracking and measuring the number of senescent cells in a living organism. The model can develop senescence in as little as 5 days in a tissue culture dish.
Zebrafish share high homology in genes associated with human ageing and disease and can be genetically modified relatively easily. In larvae, most organs develop within 5 days of fertilisation and are transparent, which allows tracking of fluorescent cells in vivo in real time, testing drug off-target toxicity and assessment of cellular and phenotypic changes. This method enables scientists to investigate senescent cells prior to using more expensive and time-consuming mammalian systems.
Read the full study .