A study suggests that centenarians have unique immune systems that managed to adapt to a history of events harmful to their health , allowing them to achieve exceptional longevity.
For the work, published in the journal eBioMedicine , which is part of The Lancet group , peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were analyzed in seven older adults, with an average age of 106 years .
The study called Multi-modal profiling of peripheral blood cells across the human lifespan reveals distinct immune cell signatures of aging and longevity . ) identified cell type-specific signatures for exceptional longevity that included genes with age-related changes as well as genes expressed only in PBMCs from centenarians.
In conclusion, the authors suggest that these unique immune systems were what allowed them to resist and live so many years.
Job Summary
Background
Age-related changes in immune cell composition and functionality are associated with multimorbidity and mortality. However, in many centenarians the onset of diseases associated with aging is delayed, suggesting the presence of an elite immunity that remains highly functional in extreme longevity.
Methods
To identify immunospecific patterns of aging and extreme human longevity, novel single-cell profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a random sample of 7 centenarians (median age 106) and publicly available single-cell RNA sequencing were analyzed. (scRNA). -seq) data sets that included 7 additional centenarians, as well as 52 people of younger ages (20 to 89 years).
Results
The analysis confirmed known changes in the ratio of lymphocytes to myeloid cells, and noncytotoxic to cytotoxic cell distributions with aging, but also identified significant shifts from CD4+ T cell to B cell populations in centenarians, suggesting a history of exposure to natural and environmental immunogens. Several of these findings were validated by flow cytometry analysis of the same samples.
Transcriptional analysis identified cell type-specific signatures for exceptional longevity that included genes with age-related changes (e.g., increased expression of STK17A, a gene known to be involved in the DNA damage response). , as well as genes expressed only in PBMCs from centenarians (e.g., S100A4, part of the S100 protein family studied in age-related diseases and connected to longevity and metabolic regulation).
Conclusion Together, these data suggest that centenarians harbor unique, highly functional immune systems that have successfully adapted to a history of damaging events allowing them to achieve exceptional longevity. |
