Senescent Cells: What Are They & Why/How Senolytx Is Trying To Fix Them Ep#1 w/ Tim Cash

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Complete notes and transcription of this podcast: https://simplebiotechpodcast.com/tim-...

Tim Cash is the Chief Scientific Officer of Senolytx Therapeutics (http://senolytx.com/), a biotech company developing novel medicines to improve and extend human lives by targeting senescent cells. One of the biggest hallmarks of aging, senescent cells produce toxins that lead to inflammation. Host James Ruhle talks to Cash about the biology of senescent cells and their significance to aging.

Podcast Notes:
Why Senolytx is focusing their research on senescent cells (2:40)

There are eight major theories of aging, including senescent cells, or as James calls, them “one of the biggest deals” in terms of figuring out aging. Data support senescent cells as the most important contributor to aging Senescent cells discovered by Hayflick and Moore in the 1960s as an in vitro phenomenon. Manuel Serrano’s lab discovered many years later that senescence happens in vivo When senescent cells are deleted in lab experiments with mice, mice have a significantly longer life.

Major characteristics of senescent cells (5:00)

Senescent cells are damaged
They have stopped dividing but do not undergo apoptosis
Pathology of senescent cells is driven by Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype, or SASP
Apoptosis: cell death. When a cell dies, it gets cleared away by the immune system.

Senolytic Drugs (8:00)

First generation of drugs designed to treat aging by targeting senescent cells.
Senolytic drugs work by eliminating senescent cells
However, a major question in Senolytx is whether or not senescent cells need to be completely eliminated for treatment to be effective. This leads to another type of treatment

Senomorphic Drugs (8:15)

Instead of eliminating cells, senomorphic drugs suppress the SASP factor of senescent cells.
Unlike senolytic drugs, senomorphics are not a permanent solution to senescent cells.
This treatment is beneficial because some senescent cells may still be useful in the body, but the drawback is that it needs to be continually administered to the patient.

Senostatic Drugs (10:43)

Senescent cells have a beneficial biological function. These cells help in the wound healing process by managing repair. They recruit the immune system to clear away bad stuff associated with the wound. Once healing is complete, the immune system is supposed to clear away the senescent cells, but as we get older the body is less adept at this process.
As we get older, senescent cells develop molecules that help them hide from the immune system and avoid this clean-up process.

Nanotechnology for the delivery of therapeutic medicines (19:05)

Another potential method of treating senescent cells that Senolytx is exploring is nanoparticle technology
Senescent cells produce high quantities of a particular enzyme, beta galactosidase. Senolytx have developed a particular nanoparticle filled with cytotoxic chemicals that targets this enzyme. By targeting beta gal, these nanoparticles target and kill senescent cells while leaving non-senescent cells intact.

Senolytx research focuses on senescent cells as they contribute to kidney and lung fibrosisbut hopes to extend their treatments to aging more broadly. (27:10)

Their goal is to find molecules that don’t just treat one age-related disease, but that treat aging itself.
Why Senolytx may be the biotech company may be the one to figure out how to treat senescent cells (29:09)

Manuel Serrano is on the team, and he is an academic leader in the field of senescence
Senolytx uses creative and innovative techniques that are novel to the industry

What excites Tim Cash about the Biotech Industry right now? (31:55)

The field of immuno-oncology, which is developing novel ways to use the immune system in treating cancer.
Within 15 years, we may be using therapies and targeted treatments for treating aging in the general population.
SenolyticTherapuetics is based in Barcelona and Boston and is a member of Life Biosciences.

To learn more about Tim Cash and his work with Senolytx, view his talk at Undoing Aging 2019

Interested in diving deeper into the biology of curing aging? Read Senolytx academic founder Manuel Serrano’s article in Nature.