Project to eliminate ‘zombie cells’ receives Heart Research UK funding

Tuesday 18th February 2020 17:08 EST
 

A project at King’s College London aiming to eliminate so called ‘zombie cells’ using a new group of drugs has received a grant of over £125,000 from national charity Heart Research UK.

Ageing is the greatest risk factor for many life-threatening disorders, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. ‘Senescence’ is the term given to the biological ageing process which involves the build-up of senescent cells, called ‘zombie’ cells, which refuse to die. 

Zombie cells release chemicals that can be harmful to nearby cells, eventually causing them to also become senescent. The build-up of these zombie cells in our bodies promotes ageing and age-related conditions, including cardiovascular disease.

The project, which will be led by Prof Georgina Ellison-Hughes, Professor of Regenerative Muscle Physiology at King’s, will test a new group of drugs, known as ‘senolytics’, which eliminate or disable zombie cells.

In lab studies, senolytics have been shown to eliminate zombie cells and improve conditions such as cataracts, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, kidney problems, and age-related loss of muscle. 

Overall, they have shown to improve poor physical function and extend health span and lifespan. This project will use a lab model where zombie human heart cells are grown together with healthy human heart cells. 

This will help understand how zombie cells are harmful to healthy heart cells, and by testing the effects of senolytic drugs, will determine if by eliminating zombie cells and/or stopping the harmful chemicals they produce improves the survival and growth of heart muscle cells and their ability to repair the heart.

If successful, the findings may pave the way for the development of senolytics to treat age-related heart disorders and the toxic effects of cancer chemotherapy on the heart.

The £126,441 Translational Research Project grant was awarded to King’s as part of Heart Research UK’s annual awards for research into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease.

Last year, Heart Research UK awarded more than £1.6 million in grants for medical research projects across the UK. 

To date, the charity has invested more than £25 million in medical research via its grants programme.


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