Aged Blood Vessel Cells Tied to Obesity
Date
July 22, 2026
Date
July 22, 2026
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In Brief
- A preclinical Cell Metabolism study conducted by Cedars-Sinai aging-research pioneers James Kirkland, MD, PhD, and Masayoshi Suda, MD, reveals age-related vascular mechanisms of metabolic disease.
- The latest findings bolster the expanding case for gerotherapeutics, particularly those focused on blood cells, which can affect multiple organs system-wide. Novel agents are currently under development at Cedars-Sinai.
Cellular senescence—a deterioration process that exacerbates with age, injury and illness—is closely intertwined with obesity, according to a recent Cell Metabolism publication by Cedars-Sinai geroscience investigators.
Study authors Masayoshi Suda, MD, PhD, and Center for Advanced Gerotherapeutics Director James Kirkland, MD, PhD, found that vascular senescence underlies metabolic disease processes such as diabetes.
Investigators introduced aged blood vessel cells into healthy mice, which induced inflammation in adipose tissue and disturbed glucose metabolism. Further, targeting the senescent cells in the blood with senolytics—a groundbreaking class of therapies discovered by Kirkland and his research team—alleviated obesity-induced dysfunction.
“This study is the first to demonstrate the ability to selectively eliminate only those senescent cells that line the blood vessels,” Kirkland said. “Since the vascular system is massive and permeates the body, this approach might enable us to reduce senescent burden through the blood across multiple organs and strengthen the body’s own defenses to remove the remaining damaged cells.”
Senescent cells accumulate more quickly than the immune system can remove them and are often destructive to surrounding tissue.
The investigators are advancing senolytics among other medicines that could directly alter fundamental hallmarks of aging. Their ultimate aim is to delay, prevent or even reverse age-related conditions.
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