Abstract:
Ageing is a biological certainty for all living organisms,
and is due to the loss of tissue homeostasis and
regenerative capacity (except for newts) in which
somatic stem cells are thought to play an important
role. Many ageing-associated dysfunctions in stem
cells have been described, but it remains ambiguous
whether these are merely an outcome of ageing or
are causal. Parabiotic animal studies suggest there are
factors in the systemic environment that can infl uence
the regenerative capacity of tissues. These factors
can be altered by ageing, but it is not clear where
these age-dependent factors are derived. A recent
provocative study on muscle stem cells, in a mouse
model of human progeria, proposes a mechanism that
might provide answers to these fundamental ageing
questions.
