[Protective action of fish muscle extracts against cellular senescence induced by oxidative stress]

Biomimetics - Nature's roadmap to insights and solutions for burden of lifestyle diseases

There are over 8 million species in this world that live in widely varying environments, from hot thermal fissures to cold arctic settings. These species have evolved over millions of years and vary markedly in how they have adapted to their environments. In the last decades, studies of how species have succeeded in surviving in different environments and with different resources have been recognized to provide not only insights into disease but also novel means for developing treatments. Here, we provide an overview of two related and overlapping approaches (biomimetics and zoobiquity), which are turning to the natural world for insights to better understand, treat and prevent human 'burden of lifestyle' pathologies from heart disease and cancer to degeneration and premature ageing. We suggest that expanding biomedical investigation beyond its decades old conventional practices to new approaches based on a broad awareness of the diversity of animal life and comparative physiology can accelerate innovations in health care under the motto 'Nature knows best'.

Long-lived animals with negligible senescence: clues for ageing research

Among several theories to explain the complicated process of human ageing, the mitochondrial oxidative stress hypothesis has received recent attention. Considering that lifespan and ageing rates vary considerably across taxa, a better understanding of factors that lead to negligible or extremely rapid senescence in mammals may generate novel approaches to target human ageing. Several species, such as naked mole rats, ocean quahog, rockfish and Greenland shark, have been identified that exhibit negligible senescence and superior resistance to age-related diseases. Considering that the available literature suggests that their outstanding stress resistance is linked to maintenance of protein homeostasis and robust mitochondrial functions, treatments that target protein modification and upregulation of matrix antioxidants may have implications for extending human health span.

Early Vascular Ageing and Cellular Senescence in Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a clinical model of premature ageing characterized by progressive vascular disease, systemic inflammation, muscle wasting and frailty. The predominant early vascular ageing (EVA) process mediated by medial vascular calcification (VC) results in a marked discrepancy between chronological and biological vascular age in CKD. Though the exact underlying mechanisms of VC and EVA are not fully elucidated, accumulating evidence indicates that cellular senescence - and subsequent chronic inflammation through the senescence-associated secretary phenotype (SASP) - plays a fundamental role in its initiation and progression. In this review, we discuss the pathophysiological links between senescence and the EVA process in CKD, with focus on cellular senescence and media VC, and potential anti-ageing therapeutic strategies of senolytic drugs targeting cellular senescence and EVA in CKD.