The mystery behind some people aging faster still continues to remain unclear. The researchers have been unable to study the development of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s diseases, different types of cancer, and other age related diseases as well. It could thus be hypothesized that certain organism’s reaction to the damage to the cells during the life time could result in the aging. A team of researchers from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and the University of Leicester designed a technique of removing damaged or old cells from the tissues in order to slow down the process of aging. They have created a smart bomb in the form of antibody to identify the proteins present on the aged cells and release a drug to remove them without damaging the healthy cells.
The latest study is likely to help advance treatments for delaying age-related diseases and the process of aging in order to increase the life expectancy as well as the quality of life. This mechanism cannot be removed by the immune system in some people and hence cause functional issues.
The idea of using an antibody-based drug to reduce the cellular senescence in organisms, especially humans, is the first of a kind research. This research is found to have gained inspiration from the existing cancer therapies. The use of cellular senescence mechanism is actually an innate process already present in the humans which the researchers are activating using drugs.
Earlier the researchers used senolytics in their drug-based study and this drug proved to have loads of side effects as well as no specificity in the humans. In the current study, the researchers used senolytics belonging to the second-generation owing to their high specificity and controlled remote delivery. This drug can identify surfaceome present on the senescent cells along with it they also used a monoclonal antibody to help recognize and attach to the senescent cells. They added drugs in the monoclonal antibody to help easily kill the aged cells. It is thus believed that this research can help trigger healthy aging and also identify the diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cataracts, etc. for proper treatment.