• Log in with Facebook Log in with Twitter Log In with Google      Sign In    
  • Create Account
  LongeCity
              Advocacy & Research for Unlimited Lifespans

Photo

Dysfunctional Stem Cells Contribute to Impaired Fracture Repair in Old Age


  • Please log in to reply
No replies to this topic

#1 reason

  • Guardian Reason
  • 1,101 posts
  • 241
  • Location:US

Posted 18 July 2019 - 10:22 AM


Stem cells perform the vital function of supporting surrounding tissue by providing new daughter somatic cells to make up losses and take their place to maintain tissue function. This stem cell activity declines with age, however, due to a combination of intrinsic damage to these cell populations, and increasing inactivity. The latter is an evolved reaction to rising levels of damage, one that serves to reduce cancer risk in earlier old age, but at the cost of a lengthy decline into incapacity. Pick near any dysfunction of aging and it is likely that loss of stem cell activity is to some degree contributing to the outcome.

Successful fracture healing requires the simultaneous regeneration of both the bone and vasculature; mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are directed to replace the bone tissue, while endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) form the new vasculature that supplies blood to the fracture site. In the elderly, the healing process is slowed, partly due to decreased regenerative function of these stem and progenitor cells.

MSCs from older individuals are impaired with regard to cell number, proliferative capacity, ability to migrate, and osteochondrogenic differentiation potential. The proliferation, migration and function of EPCs are also compromised with advanced age. Although the reasons for cellular dysfunction with age are complex and multidimensional, reduced expression of growth factors, accumulation of oxidative damage from reactive oxygen species, and altered signaling of the Sirtuin-1 pathway are contributing factors to aging at the cellular level of both MSCs and EPCs.

Because of these geriatric-specific issues, effective treatment for fracture repair may require new therapeutic techniques to restore cellular function. The causes of cellular aging and the concomitant decline in functionality are wide-ranging, but provide some intriguing indications of potential targets for speeding fracture healing in older individuals. In the future, cell therapies that supplement the inadequate native cellular response with MSCs or endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs); bone anabolic pharmacological agents, particularly in combination with strategies to localize their delivery to the bone fracture; drugs that reduce oxidative stress, cellular senescence, or activate SIRT1; and/or physical therapeutics may prove effective in promoting fracture healing in the elderly.

Advanced age is the primary risk factor for a fracture, due to the low bone mass and inferior bone quality associated with aging; a better understanding of the dysfunctional behavior of the aging cell will provide a foundation for new treatments to decrease healing time and reduce the development of complications during the extended recovery from fracture healing in the elderly.

Link: https://doi.org/10.4...wjsc.v11.i6.281


View the full article at FightAging




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users