Project R-14413

Associations between immunosenescence and cellular senescence as determinants of aging and pathology. (Research)

Ageing is accompanied by a functional decline of our immune system, called immunosenescence. In parallel, with advancing age, there is an accumulation of senescent cells with limited proliferative capacity throughout the body. Although immunosenescence and cellular senescence share some common features, the relationship between these two phenomena is still poorly understood. The aim of this project is to determine the association between immunosenescence and cellular senescence as determinants of aging and pathology. To achieve this, we identify the expression of cellular senescence and immunosenescence markers in immune cells from healthy donors between 20 and 99 years old. We study European as well as Caribbean donors, to detect common ageing pathways and identify distinct ageing patterns in these populations. We use immune cells of centenarians as a model of successful ageing, and immune cells from MS patients as a model for premature immune ageing. The results gathered provide a human encyclopedia with the timing and expression patterns of (immune-)senescence markers amongst different immune cell subsets. We use these data to determine the association between immune ageing and clinical status. Ultimately, we build an "aging clock" for the estimation of the biological age of the immune system. This knowledge is necessary to design adequate therapies that ameliorate the worldwide increase in ageassociated diseases.

19 December 2023 - 31 May 2026