Facultad de Ciencias

The role of T cells in age-related diseases

The role of T cells in age-related diseases

Age- related T cell dysfunction can lead to failure of immune tolerance mechanisms, resulting in aberrant T cell- driven cytokine and cytotoxic responses that ultimately cause tissue damage. In this Review, we discuss the role of T cells in the onset and progression of age- associated conditions, focusing on cardiovascular disorders, metabolic dysfunction, neuroinflammation and defective tissue repair and regeneration. We present different mechanisms by which T cells contribute to inflammageing and might act as modulators of age- associated diseases, including through enhanced pro- inflammatory and cytotoxic activity, defective clearance of senescent cells or regulation of the gut microbiota. Finally, we propose that ‘resetting’ immune system tolerance or targeting pathogenic T cells could open up new therapeutic opportunities to boost resilience to age- related diseases.

Enlace a la publicación: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-021-00557-4