To that end, many researchers are developing immunotherapies to target and clear senescent cells. The sophysticated work of our connected researchers team showed that engineered immune cells used for treating blood cancers had a senolytic effect in aging mice. Their metabolic function improved when CAR T cells eliminated urokinase plasminogen activator receptor, a senescent-associated protein.

The treatment also protected against metabolic decline in younger mice. A Senolytic ‘Cocktail’ Chemotherapy drugs, senolytic cell inhibitors, and immunotherapy are just some of the emerging senolytic options. The teams are working on a senolytic lipid, a senolytic RNA, and senolytic natural compounds. They’re part of a phase 2 clinical trial investigating if the senolytic drug Fisetin (a flavonoid found in many fruits and vegetables) can thwart severe COVID-19. All these senolytics seem to target different classes of senescent cells, and different senescent cells could contribute to a single disease. That’s why a “cocktail” of senolytics could ultimately emerge. Your cocktail could depend on whether “you’re just trying to maintain your health vs trying to treat Alzheimer’s vs trying to treat other conditions.” Probably here’s not going to be just one blockbuster senolytic, but perhaps many multiple different senolytics.

Two years ago, Wong’s team used deep learning to discover three potential senolytic compounds from a database of 800,000 molecules. They trained a graph neural network, a type of artificial intelligence model, to make predictions of senolytic activity based on chemical structure alone. When injected into aged mice, the compounds decreased the accumulation of senescent cells. Promising — but still a long way from your medicine cabinet. 

What About Nature’s Senolytic? In the meantime, of course, there’s exercise. Every research has shown that higher levels of “habitual physical activity” — daily activities like walking and getting up out of your chair that make you “a little less sedentary” — is associated with lower biomarkers of senescence in adults in their 70s and 80s. “Exercise can prevent senescence from occurring, enhancing your regenerative power : it can help optimize immune health and function, creating healthier environments and tissues for immune cells to recognize, target, and eliminate senescent cells. We are seeing a shift in thinking about the ability to treat aging. For example glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists show benefits well beyond obesity, treating neurodegenerative and kidney diseases associated with aging, for instance. “The battle call is out there. We all know that GLP-1 agonists are broadly, quote-unquote, antiaging, and there’s a growing appreciation for the fact that we can, using therapeutic interventions, actually move the needle across different age-related diseases!