Modern medicine has led to an overall increase in the life expectancy but, currently prevailing lifestyle has created an aged society that is vulnerable to develop several types of cancers, age-related disorders and degenerative conditions. Aging affects adult stem cells present in various tissues, which de-regulates tissue homeostasis, its regenerative potential and repair. The primary cause of this functional decline of tissue homeostasis that accompanies aging is depletion of the stem cell pool in the adult tissue, and the simultaneous changes in the stem cell niche and the systemic microenvironment that impairs the regenerative capacity of the adult stem cells.
Therefore, the key question is whether exploring novel rejuvenation strategies for aging adult stem cells would contribute towards improving the regenerative capacity of tissues to restore organ function.
Till now, rejuvenating strategies for aged stem cells have focussed either on intrinsic mechanisms (reversing DNA damage, repressing cell cycle inhibitors, intervening with the epigenetic modifications, and targeting signalling pathways in aged stem cells) or on extrinsic mechanisms (modifying the stem cell niche micro-environment that nurses the resident stem cells, ECM etc., and modifying the systemic environment involving the soluble factors such as signalling ligands, hormones, growth factors etc.). Therefore; identifying, developing, and optimizing strategies that combine rejuvenating the adult stem cells, the systemic milieu, and the tissue microenvironment - ultimately translating into a ‘combinatorial rejuvenating stem cell therapy’ that reinforces tissue regeneration seems promising to enhance human lifespan. Such an approach could be used to restore tissue homeostasis and physiological function by using either endogenous stem cells that have undergone rejuvenation or exogenous replacement of functional/differentiated cells derived from rejuvenated stem or progenitor cells.
The theme of the manuscripts must revolve around strategies (novel or modified) that improve the regenerative capacity of any type of adult stem cell and perhaps could restore tissue function.
• Original research articles
• Review articles
• Reports
Modern medicine has led to an overall increase in the life expectancy but, currently prevailing lifestyle has created an aged society that is vulnerable to develop several types of cancers, age-related disorders and degenerative conditions. Aging affects adult stem cells present in various tissues, which de-regulates tissue homeostasis, its regenerative potential and repair. The primary cause of this functional decline of tissue homeostasis that accompanies aging is depletion of the stem cell pool in the adult tissue, and the simultaneous changes in the stem cell niche and the systemic microenvironment that impairs the regenerative capacity of the adult stem cells.
Therefore, the key question is whether exploring novel rejuvenation strategies for aging adult stem cells would contribute towards improving the regenerative capacity of tissues to restore organ function.
Till now, rejuvenating strategies for aged stem cells have focussed either on intrinsic mechanisms (reversing DNA damage, repressing cell cycle inhibitors, intervening with the epigenetic modifications, and targeting signalling pathways in aged stem cells) or on extrinsic mechanisms (modifying the stem cell niche micro-environment that nurses the resident stem cells, ECM etc., and modifying the systemic environment involving the soluble factors such as signalling ligands, hormones, growth factors etc.). Therefore; identifying, developing, and optimizing strategies that combine rejuvenating the adult stem cells, the systemic milieu, and the tissue microenvironment - ultimately translating into a ‘combinatorial rejuvenating stem cell therapy’ that reinforces tissue regeneration seems promising to enhance human lifespan. Such an approach could be used to restore tissue homeostasis and physiological function by using either endogenous stem cells that have undergone rejuvenation or exogenous replacement of functional/differentiated cells derived from rejuvenated stem or progenitor cells.
The theme of the manuscripts must revolve around strategies (novel or modified) that improve the regenerative capacity of any type of adult stem cell and perhaps could restore tissue function.
• Original research articles
• Review articles
• Reports