van Rijthoven Sharon, van Loon Jack J W A
Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Amsterdam Movement Sciences & Amsterdam Bone Center (ABC), Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam & Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
FASEB J. 2025 Jul 15;39(13):e70777. doi: 10.1096/fj.202402989R.
The elderly and astronauts exhibit strikingly similar phenotypes. Although much research has addressed the comparison between these two groups at the level of the whole organism or organ level, like the musculoskeletal system, comparative studies at the cellular level remain limited. Therefore, this article aims to address this gap by conducting an extensive scoping review, comparing cell function and alterations with advanced age to those observed in altered gravity. The broad review spans different cell types and species, highlighting the generic nature of aging and its relationship to gravity. We identified 165 signs of aging at the cell level, deducted from leading aging papers, and grouped them into 11 themes: DNA and epigenetics, mitochondria, nucleus, immune system, protein and metabolism, lysosome and degradation, cell cycle, cytoskeleton, extracellular matrix (ECM), cell mechanics, and cell signaling. Following this classification, we conducted a comprehensive search using the databases Web of Science and PubMed to examine the behavior of these signs in altered gravity conditions. The results reveal that only 29% of the responses are similar in (simulated) microgravity compared to biological aging, while others show contrasting behavior, thereby highlighting the complexity of cellular responses in these conditions. However, the majority of the signs remain unexplored in altered gravity. Mechanotransduction emerges as a potential key player in the observed phenotypic resemblances between aging and microgravity. Since there still is quite a lack of knowledge of aging-related effects on a cellular level in gravity-related research, we recommend further gravity research on the many components making up the links that facilitate mechanotransduction, which can aid in understanding the origins of these shared phenotypes and could lead to new insights into age-related and space-induced health challenges.
老年人和宇航员表现出惊人相似的表型。尽管许多研究已经在整个生物体或器官水平（如肌肉骨骼系统）对这两组进行了比较，但细胞水平的比较研究仍然有限。因此，本文旨在通过进行广泛的范围综述来填补这一空白，将细胞功能和衰老相关变化与在重力改变条件下观察到的变化进行比较。广泛的综述涵盖了不同的细胞类型和物种，突出了衰老的普遍性质及其与重力的关系。我们从领先的衰老研究论文中归纳出165个细胞水平的衰老迹象，并将它们分为11个主题：DNA与表观遗传学、线粒体、细胞核、免疫系统、蛋白质与代谢、溶酶体与降解、细胞周期、细胞骨架、细胞外基质（ECM）、细胞力学和细胞信号传导。按照这种分类，我们使用科学网和PubMed数据库进行了全面搜索，以研究这些迹象在重力改变条件下的表现。结果显示，与生物衰老相比，在（模拟）微重力条件下只有29%的反应是相似的，而其他反应则表现出相反的行为，从而突出了这些条件下细胞反应的复杂性。然而，大多数迹象在重力改变条件下仍未被探索。机械转导成为衰老与微重力之间观察到的表型相似性的潜在关键因素。由于在重力相关研究中仍然缺乏对细胞水平上衰老相关影响的了解，我们建议对构成促进机械转导联系的许多组成部分进行进一步的重力研究，这有助于理解这些共同表型的起源，并可能带来对与年龄相关和太空诱导的健康挑战的新见解。
