One of the biggest challenges in aging and disease research is tracking down senescent cells. These cells -- often called "zombie cells" -- stop dividing but refuse to die off normally. Over time, they can build up in the body and have been linked to conditions including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and the aging process itself.
Scientists have been exploring ways to remove or repair these harmful cells, but there has been a major obstacle. Researchers have struggled to reliably identify senescent cells hiding among healthy cells in living tissue.
DNA Aptamers Help Researchers Identify Senescent Cells
A team at Mayo Clinic now says it has found a promising new strategy. Writing in the journal Aging Cell, the researchers describe a technique that uses molecules called "aptamers" to tag senescent cells.
Aptamers are short strands of synthetic DNA that naturally fold into complex three dimensional shapes. Those shapes allow them to attach to specific proteins found on the surfaces of cells.
