[vbmoneyspender]

Scripps Research, Mayo Clinic Scientists Find New Class of Drugs that Dramatically Increases Healthy Lifespan (March 9, 2015)

The scientists were faced with the question, though, of how to identify and target senescent cells without damaging other cells.

The team suspected that senescent cells’ resistance to death by stress and damage could provide a clue. Indeed, using transcript analysis, the researchers found that, like cancer cells, senescent cells have increased expression of “pro-survival networks” that help them resist apoptosis or programmed cell death. This finding provided key criteria to search for potential drug candidates.

Using these criteria, the team homed in on two available compounds—the cancer drug dasatinib (sold under the trade name Sprycel®) and quercetin, a natural compound sold as a supplement that acts as an antihistamine and anti-inflammatory.

[Secret Agent Man]

Cells that don’t divide have shorter teleomeres than new/newer cells.