Therapeutic Antiaging Strategies

Abstract

Aging constitutes progressive physiological changes in an organism. These changes alter the normal biological functions, such as the ability to manage metabolic stress, and eventually lead to cellular senescence. The process itself is characterized by nine hallmarks: genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, deregulated nutrient sensing, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion, and altered intercellular communication. These hallmarks are risk factors for pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Emerging evidence has been focused on examining the genetic pathways and biological processes in organisms surrounding these nine hallmarks. From here, the therapeutic approaches can be addressed in hopes of slowing the progression of aging. In this review, data have been collected on the hallmarks and their relative contributions to aging and supplemented with in vitro and in vivo antiaging research experiments. It is the intention of this article to highlight the most important antiaging strategies that researchers have proposed, including preventive measures, systemic therapeutic agents, and invasive procedures, that will promote healthy aging and increase human life expectancy with decreased side effects.

Keywords: aging; antiaging strategies; hallmarks; risk factors; therapeutic agent.

Figure 1

Hallmarks of aging. This scheme identifies the nine hallmarks briefly described in this review: loss of proteostasis, epigenetic alterations, telomere attrition, genomic instability, cellular senescence, mitochondrial dysfunction, deregulated nutrient sensing, altered intercellular communication, and stem cell exhaustion.

Figure 2

Epigenetic Mechanisms via DNA Methylation and histone modification. Epigenetics can be altered via developmental mechanisms, environmental chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aging, and diet. Some dietary sources can lead to a direct production of DNA methylation, allowing for the overexpression or repression of genes, thereby increasing the aging process.

Figure 3

Mitophagy Modulators Against Mitochondrial Dysfunction. Several factors contribute to the aging process via the mitochondria, including mitophagy, mitochondrial fusion and fission, biogenesis, age-related diseases (i.e., AD and PD), mitochondrial dysfunction in general, and metabolic shifts. STACs, NMN, NR, and resveratrol are compounds that act against the aging process, directly targeting mitophagy and preventing the selective degradation of healthy mitochondria.

Figure 4

Antiaging strategies to counter aging that might extend the human lifespan based on the use of chemical compounds and bioactive molecules and their use in various approaches mentioned in the figure.