A team at the CRCHUM – Université de Montréal’s hospital research centre – has discovered a new function for proteins responsible for DNA repair in the control of an inflammatory response in aging cells, also known as senescent cells, which accumulate over time.
In their study published today in EMBO Reports, the researchers say understanding this new function will allow clinicians to distinguish between a slightly damaged cell and a very sick or aging cell.
And by doing that, they’ll be better able to control a cellular inflammatory response at the right time and improve the treatment of diseases associated with aging, the scientists say.
Their study sheds light on a paradox dating back a decade that links DNA damage and chronic low-level inflammation associated with aging, also known as “inflammaging.”
UdeMNouvelles discuss the implications with Francis Rodier. He is a professor in UdeM’s Department of Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, and a researcher at the CRCHUM and Institut du cancer de Montréal.
Rodier supervised the efforts of his postdoctoral fellow Nicolas Malaquin, the study's first author.
