Scientists find an enzyme that drives ageing without triggering inflammation
Found: A protein that drives ageing without unleashing inflammation
Researchers have identified granzyme K, an enzyme that accelerates ageing in the body's tissues. Aged mice engineered to lack the protein showed improved heart and liver function and less kidney damage. Because it acts without inflaming the immune system, drugs that lower granzyme K levels might one day slow the effects of ageing while leaving the body's immune defenses intact.
Drugs that reduce the levels of this protein might one day combat the effects of ageing without impairing the body's immune defences.
- neom
Paper: https://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(26)00440-1
Granzyme K is the protein.
- ethanj8011
From the abstract of the paper, significantly more nuance.
> Despite persistent immune aging phenotypes, GzmK deficiency markedly attenuated organ aging, effectively uncoupling immune and tissue aging... These findings identify GzmK as a tissue-specific driver of organismal aging but not immune aging or systemic inflammaging.
- RobotToaster
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