Targeting cellular senescence as a therapy to rejuvenate the reparative activity of human cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells

Complete

17/10/2019

Ageing

South East

Drug discovery/ Therapeutics

Awarded amount: £126,441

Grant scheme: TRP

Institution: King's College London

Principle Investigator: Prof Georgina Ellison-Hughes

---

Ageing is the driving factor behind many serious diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease.

This is partly due to the build-up of so-called “zombie cells”, which refuse to die and therefore accumulate in the body, including the heart. This presents a major problem as these zombie cells release harmful chemicals which causes the cells around them to also become zombie cells, thus accelerating the ageing process further.

A new group of drugs, called senolytics, have been found to have the ability to eliminate these zombie cells, which in various studies in both laboratory models and humans have shown positive effects on lifespan and overall health.

This study examined the potential impact of such drugs on the heart. The results demonstrated that a combination of these drugs successfully eliminated zombie cells and the harmful chemicals they produce which led to improvements in the survival of heart cells and their ability to regenerate.

The next step will be to conduct a clinical trial to confirm the potential of these drugs to mitigate the harmful effects of ageing on the heart and as treatments for zombie cell-induced heart damage, caused by factors such a chemotherapy.

It is hoped due to the progress made across the field of senolytics, that they could be an element of clinical practice within the next five years. This work has resulted in two publications, including one in preparation, alongside a number of high-profile conference