Immunosenescence and the Aging Immune System

The immune system is a vast and intricate network. Seven percent of the entire human genome is composed of immune-specific genes. This complex system has important functional and maintenance roles that involve clearing out foreign pathogens and sweeping away dead or dysfunctional cells. As do most human systems, the immune system experiences degradation with age. This degradation in aging populations results in inadequate immune responses to invading pathogens, self-antigens, undesirable and malfunctioning cells, and even to vaccines. “Furthermore, the aged immune system elicits an inadequate response to vaccines, leaving the elderly susceptible to pathogens despite being vaccinated against them. This is especially poignant in the wake of an ongoing pandemic where the mortality rate is disproportionately high in the elderly.” Researchers from the University of Florida authored a well-written review article (with exceptionally vivid figures and illustrations) exploring a potential cause of the aging immune system. They believe therapies that could target this cause may stave off age-related diseases and improve our quality of life as we age. The paper was published by Aging (Aging-US) in 2021, and entitled, “Cellular senescence in lymphoid organs and immunosenescence.” Full blog - https://www.impactjournals.com/journals/blog/aging/%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8bimmunosenescence-and-the-aging-immune-system/ Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://oncotarget.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Foncotarget.203405 DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203405 Full text - https://www.aging-us.com/article/203405/text Correspondence to: Daohong Zhou email: zhoudaohong@cop.ufl.edu Keywords: cellular senescence, immunosenescence, immune senescence, senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP), thymus About Aging-US Launched in 2009, Aging-US publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research and age-related diseases, including cancer—and now, with a special focus on COVID-19 vulnerability as an age-dependent syndrome. Topics in Aging-US go beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR, among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways. Please visit our website at http://www.Aging-US.com​​ or connect with us on: Twitter - https://twitter.com/AgingJrnl Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AgingUS/ SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/aging-us​ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/agingus​ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/aging​ Aging-US is published by Impact Journals, LLC please visit http://www.ImpactJournals.com​​ or connect with @ImpactJrnls Media Contact 18009220957 MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM