Senescent stem cell dysfunction and age-related diseases.

Abstract

As the body ages, it experiences a gradual decline in the functioning of cells, tissues and systems, which eventually leads to dysfunction and increased susceptibility to disease. At the cellular level, a reduction in the activity or number of stem cells is an important feature of cell senescence, and such changes may also directly drive the aging of the organism. Thus, finding ways to prevent or even reverse stem cell senescence holds promise for the development of aging therapies in tissues and organisms. This review discusses the relationship between changes in stem cell senescence, tissues aging, and related diseases, focusing on four categories of tissue stem cells: hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs), intestinal stem cells (ISCs), and muscle stem cells (MuSCs).