Department of Molecular Medicine and the Center on Aging, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, USA.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2018;1056:29-45. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-74470-4_3.
Life expectancy in the developed world has advanced beyond the number of years in which healthy tissue homeostasis can be maintained, and as a result, the number of persons with severe and debilitating chronic illnesses, including cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disease has continued to rise. One of the key underlying causes for the loss in the ability to replenish damaged tissues is the qualitative and quantitative decline in somatic stem cell populations. A concerted effort to understand why aging adult stem cells fail to maintain "stem" potential while simultaneously developing new strategies and therapeutic interventions to prevent or reverse age-dependent stem cell decline is required to improve the overall healthspan of our rapidly aging population. This review focuses on what drives stem cell dysfunction with age, the contribution of stem cell dysfunction in driving aging and therapeutic approaches using stem cells to treat aging.
在发达国家，预期寿命已经超过了健康组织维持稳态的年限，因此，患有严重和使人虚弱的慢性疾病的人数持续上升，包括癌症、糖尿病、骨关节炎、骨质疏松症、神经退行性疾病和心血管疾病。造成组织损伤后无法再生的一个主要潜在原因是体干细胞群在质量和数量上的下降。人们需要齐心协力地去理解为什么老年成体干细胞在丧失“干性”潜能的同时，又无法同时开发新的策略和治疗干预措施来防止或逆转与年龄相关的干细胞衰退，以提高我们这个快速老龄化人口的整体健康预期寿命。本综述重点关注是什么导致了干细胞随年龄的功能障碍，以及干细胞功能障碍在驱动衰老中的作用，以及使用干细胞治疗衰老的治疗方法。
