News Feature |
Featured
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News Feature |
Hacking the immune system could slow ageing — here’s how
Our immune system falters over time, which could explain the negative effects of ageing.
- Alison Abbott
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News |
Could a rare mutation that causes dwarfism also slow ageing?
People with Laron syndrome have a low risk of heart disease and a number of other age-related disorders, hinting at strategies for new treatments.
- Mariana Lenharo
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Outlook |
Are robots the solution to the crisis in older-person care?
Social robots that promise companionship and stimulation for older people and those with dementia are attracting investment, but some question their benefits.
- Tammy Worth
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Article
| Open Access
Multimodal cell atlas of the ageing human skeletal muscle
The Human Muscle Ageing Cell Atlas provides a series of integrated cellular and molecular explanations for sarcopenia and frailty development in advanced ages.
- Yiwei Lai
- , Ignacio Ramírez-Pardo
- & Miguel A. Esteban
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Nature Podcast |
Pregnancy’s effect on ‘biological’ age, polite birds, and the carbon cost of home-grown veg
We round up some recent stories from the Nature Briefing.
- Benjamin Thompson
- , Noah Baker
- & Flora Graham
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News & Views |
Anti-ageing antibodies revive the immune system
Depleting an expanding pool of aberrant stem cells in aged mice using antibody therapy has been shown to rebalance blood cell production, diminish age-associated inflammation and strengthen acquired immune responses.
- Yasar Arfat T. Kasu
- & Robert A. J. Signer
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News |
How to make an old immune system young again
Antibodies that target blood stem cells can rejuvenate immune responses in mice.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article |
The HEAT repeat protein HPO-27 is a lysosome fission factor
The conserved HEAT repeat protein HPO-27 is identified as a lysosome scission factor in Caenorhabditis elegans, and the human homologue MROH1 also serves the same function to maintain lysosomal homeostasis.
- Letao Li
- , Xilu Liu
- & Xiaochen Wang
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Article |
Depleting myeloid-biased haematopoietic stem cells rejuvenates aged immunity
Antibody-mediated depletion of myeloid-biased haematopoietic stem cells in aged mice restores characteristic features of a more youthful immune system.
- Jason B. Ross
- , Lara M. Myers
- & Irving L. Weissman
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News |
Pregnancy advances your ‘biological’ age — but giving birth turns it back
Carrying a baby creates some of the same epigenetic patterns on DNA seen in older people.
- Saima Sidik
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Article
| Open Access
Resilient anatomy and local plasticity of naive and stress haematopoiesis
This study develops a method for spatially resolving multipotent haematopoiesis, erythropoiesis and lymphopoiesis in mice and uncovers heterogeneous haematopoietic stress responses in different bones.
- Qingqing Wu
- , Jizhou Zhang
- & Daniel Lucas
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Nature Video |
Why human brain cells grow so slowly
Some human neurons take years to reach maturity; an epigenetic ‘brake’ could be responsible.
- Shamini Bundell
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Research Briefing |
Drain ‘pipes’ behind the nose clear cerebrospinal fluid from the brain
This study reveals a distinctive network of lymphatic vessels at the back of the nose that serves as a major hub for the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to deep cervical lymph nodes in the neck. These deep cervical lymphatics remain intact with ageing, and their pharmacological activation enhanced CSF drainage in mice.
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Article
| Open Access
Nasopharyngeal lymphatic plexus is a hub for cerebrospinal fluid drainage
The nasopharyngeal lymphatic plexus is a major hub for cerebrospinal fluid outflow to deep cervical lymph nodes.
- Jin-Hui Yoon
- , Hokyung Jin
- & Gou Young Koh
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Book Review |
The research aiming to keep people healthier for longer
An exploration of the biological reasons that people age celebrates the role of worms and flies in enabling scientific discovery — and investigates how to age well.
- Linda Partridge
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News |
Are your organs ageing well? The blood holds clues
One organ in a person’s body can age faster than the rest — with implications for health and mortality.
- Max Kozlov
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Article |
CHIT1-positive microglia drive motor neuron ageing in the primate spinal cord
Motor neuron senescence and neuroinflammation with microglial hyperactivation are intertwined hallmarks of spinal cord ageing.
- Shuhui Sun
- , Jiaming Li
- & Guang-Hui Liu
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News |
Anti-ageing molecule boosts fertility in ageing mice
‘Undeniably groundbreaking’ work shows that declining egg quality in older mice can be reversed with a dietary supplement.
- Gemma Conroy
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News |
The brain cells linked to protection against dementia
People with an abundance of specific neurons are more likely to escape cognitive decline despite having signs of Alzheimer’s in their brains.
- Sara Reardon
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News & Views |
How the cGAS–STING system links inflammation and cognitive decline
When DNA is misplaced inside cells, the cGAS–STING molecular system triggers inflammation. It emerges that stimulation of this mechanism in microglial cells of the brain during ageing contributes to cognitive decline.
- Bart J. L. Eggen
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Article
| Open Access
Evolutionary histories of breast cancer and related clones
By using phylogenetic analyses of multiple microdissected samples from both cancer and non-cancer lesions, unique evolutionary histories of breast cancers harbouring a common driver alteration are shown, providing new insight into how breast cancer evolves.
- Tomomi Nishimura
- , Nobuyuki Kakiuchi
- & Seishi Ogawa
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Nature Podcast |
ChatGPT can write a paper in an hour — but there are downsides
A roundup of stories from the Nature Briefing, including the pros and cons of writing a paper with AI, record-breaking global temperatures, and a protein that boosts monkeys’ memories.
- Noah Baker
- , Benjamin Thompson
- & Dan Fox
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News |
Anti-ageing protein injection boosts monkeys’ memories
First primate studies to show cognitive benefits of the protein klotho could be a step towards clinical applications.
- Lilly Tozer
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News |
Taurine supplement makes animals live longer — what it means for people is unclear
The energy-drink ingredient offers striking health benefits in mice, monkeys and worms. But more work is needed to investigate its link with ageing.
- Myriam Vidal Valero
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Outlook |
RNA splicing targets age-related diseases
Manipulating genetic molecules could return cells to a younger state.
- Christine Evans-Pughe
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News & Views |
Yo-yoing stem cells defy dogma to maintain hair colour
The observation that melanocyte stem cells migrate up and down the hair follicle, differentiating into melanocytes and then returning to a stem-cell identity, calls into question long-held assumptions about adult stem cells.
- Carlos Galvan
- & William E. Lowry
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Article
| Open Access
Dedifferentiation maintains melanocyte stem cells in a dynamic niche
Local microenvironmental cues modulate melanocyte stem cells, which control hair pigmentation, to enter different differentiation states, shifting between hair follicle stem cell and transit-amplifying compartments, a process that is different to other self-renewing systems.
- Qi Sun
- , Wendy Lee
- & Mayumi Ito
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News |
Ageing studies in five animals suggest how to reverse decline
Smoothing the speed bumps in an important cellular pathway seems to be implicated in ageing.
- Gemma Conroy
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Article |
Clonal haematopoiesis and risk of chronic liver disease
A study shows that clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential is associated with an increased risk of chronic liver disease specifically through the promotion of liver inflammation and injury.
- Waihay J. Wong
- , Connor Emdin
- & Pradeep Natarajan
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Article
| Open Access
Ageing-associated changes in transcriptional elongation influence longevity
Increases in transcriptional elongation speed with age affect organismal lifespan and ageing-related changes could be reversed with lifespan-extending interventions.
- Cédric Debès
- , Antonios Papadakis
- & Andreas Beyer
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Research Briefing |
Immune cells’ ability to persist and replicate long outlives species lifespan
Immune cells called T cells were activated in mice and transferred to new mice; the process was repeated several times. The T-cell population derived from the original mice continued to respond to the same immune trigger after ten years — which is about four times the lifespan of a mouse.
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Article |
Functional T cells are capable of supernumerary cell division and longevity
Through iterative cycles of viral challenge and rechallenge over ten years, mouse T cells are demonstrated to have essentially infinite potential for population expansion and longevity without malignant transformation or loss of functional competence.
- Andrew G. Soerens
- , Marco Künzli
- & David Masopust
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News & Views |
Senescent cells damage the body throughout life
Cells in a state of arrested growth, called senescence, have been characterized in skeletal muscle in mice. Senescent cells promote inflammation and block regeneration, and thus might induce harmful changes in aged muscle.
- David J. Glass
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Nature Careers Podcast |
Why the mid-career stage in science can feel like a second puberty
A philosopher and a behavioural economist suggest some remedies to tackle the “muddle of the middle”.
- Julie Gould
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News |
Genes’ effect on lifespan depends on sex and age, mouse study finds
In a large study, researchers identified several areas of the mouse genome that influence longevity.
- Liam Drew
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Research Highlight |
Quick course of anti-ageing drug shows success
Flies and mice benefit from even a brief regimen of rapamycin.
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News |
When will China’s population peak? It depends who you ask
Data show the country is facing a demographic crisis, with an ageing population and young couples having fewer children.
- Yvaine Ye
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Outlook |
The hormonal keys to depression
Science is only now uncovering the complex interaction between hormones, neurosteroids and mood disorders.
- Bianca Nogrady
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Article |
YAP/TAZ activity in stromal cells prevents ageing by controlling cGAS–STING
tDeclining YAP/TAZ mechanotransduction drives ageing by unleashing cGAS–STING signalling, a pillar of innate immunity, so sustaining YAP/TAZ mechanosignalling or inhibiting STING present promising approaches for limiting senescence-associated inflammation and improving healthy ageing.
- Hanna Lucie Sladitschek-Martens
- , Alberto Guarnieri
- & Stefano Piccolo
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News & Views |
Blood’s life history traced through genomic scars
Two studies of the mutations acquired by blood-forming cells over time provide insights into the dynamics of blood production in humans and its relationship to ageing.
- Aswin Sekar
- & Benjamin L. Ebert
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Article
| Open Access
Clonal dynamics of haematopoiesis across the human lifespan
Haematopoiesis has high clonal diversity up to about 65 years of age, after which diversity drops precipitously owing to positive selection acting on a handful of clones that expand exponentially throughout adulthood.
- Emily Mitchell
- , Michael Spencer Chapman
- & Peter J. Campbell
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News Round-Up |
Parasite names, mouse rejuvenation and toxic sunscreen
The latest science news, in brief.
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News & Views |
Young cerebrospinal fluid improves memory in old mice
Infusion of cerebrospinal fluid from young mice into old mice restores memory recall in the aged animals by triggering production of the fatty myelin sheath that insulates neurons in the brain.
- Miriam Zawadzki
- & Maria K. Lehtinen
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News |
Young brain fluid improves memory in old mice
A protein in cerebrospinal fluid helps boost cells that maintain brain function.
- Jude Coleman
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Nature Video |
The lifespan secret: why giraffes live longer than ferrets
Ageing is linked to accumulated mutations - according to new research.
- Dan Fox
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Nature Podcast |
Why do naked mole rats live as long as giraffes?
Identifying how animals’ mutation rates line up with their longevity, and what the war in Ukraine means for emissions.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Benjamin Thompson
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Article
| Open Access
Somatic mutation rates scale with lifespan across mammals
Whole-genome sequencing is used to analyse the landscape of somatic mutation in intestinal crypts from 16 mammalian species, revealing that rates of somatic mutation inversely scale with the lifespan of the animal across species.
- Alex Cagan
- , Adrian Baez-Ortega
- & Iñigo Martincorena
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Article |
Molecular hallmarks of heterochronic parabiosis at single-cell resolution
A transcriptomics study demonstrates cell-type-specific responses to differentially aged blood and shows young blood to have restorative and rejuvenating effects that may be invoked through enhanced mitochondrial function.
- Róbert Pálovics
- , Andreas Keller
- & Tony Wyss-Coray
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Perspective |
An open science study of ageing in companion dogs
The Dog Aging Project is an open-data, community science study to identify genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors associated with canine healthy lifespan, generating knowledge that could readily translate to human ageing.
- Kate E. Creevy
- , Joshua M. Akey
- & Benjamin S. Wilfond
How to kill the ‘zombie’ cells that make you age