Austria creates first atlas of human endothelial cell aging — News-Medical

In Austria, an international group of researchers led by Laura de Rooij from the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences created the Human Aging Endothelial Cell Atlas — a comprehensive atlas of age-related changes in endothelial cells that line the inner surface of blood vessels.

As News-Medical reports , the work combined data on gene activity in more than 375,000 human cells from 290 samples and 12 tissues. Data from 34 studies The team analyzed the results of 34 previously published studies using single-cell analysis. The researchers focused on tissues classified as healthy or without diagnosed diseases in order to separate aging-related changes from changes that may primarily result from diseases.

Endothelial cells regulate blood flow, control the passage of substances into surrounding tissues, and take part in responses to injury. They also have specialized functions in different organs: in particular, they form a protective barrier in the brain and support filtration in the kidneys.

Vascular aging differs between tissues The atlas showed that age-related changes in the endothelium differ depending on the part of the vascular system and the tissue. In cells lining veins, older individuals had lower activity of several genes associated with blood vessel formation.

The authors note that this may be linked to a reduced ability of blood vessels to renew themselves, although regenerative capacity was not directly measured in the study. More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram . In several tissues, increased activity of genes associated with inflammation and cellular senescence was also found — a state in which cells stop dividing and can affect their surroundings.

Separately, the researchers described age-related changes in genes that help endothelial cells respond to the mechanical forces of blood flow and the surrounding environment. Observations regarding the YAP protein Experiments with human skin showed that in older donors, the YAP protein, which is involved in cellular responses to mechanical influences, was more often found in the nuclei of endothelial cells.

The researchers have not yet determined whether this helps cells adapt to age-related changes or, conversely, contributes to deteriorating vascular function. The results were published in the journal Nature Aging. The authors emphasize that the study compared people of different ages rather than tracking changes in the same participants throughout their lives.

In addition, the conclusions are limited by incomplete information about the donors' lifestyles and medical histories.