Researchers have identified IL-23R as an aging and cellular senescence biomarker and a potential target for future strategies to counteract aging-associated conditions. The authors of a study published in Nature Aging aimed at finding plasma proteins and tissue transcripts that change with age and are responsive to treatment with substances specifically designed to attack senescent cells.

Senescent cells accumulate with age. Senescence is a type of cellular stress response in which specific signaling pathways induce a stable cell cycle arrest. Senescent cells no longer divide, but they remain metabolically active and, by secreting deleterious molecules, they impact surrounding cells. In this way, they contribute to aging-related dysfunction across multiple organs.

IL-23R is a protein that alerts immune cells to help them fighting infections through inflammation. Overly active IL-23R, however, can result in tissue damage. The researchers found that IL-23R levels in blood of mice and humans increase with age. In preclinical studies, these IL-23R levels dropped under senolytic treatment. For the authors of the study, IL-23R is a link between cellular senescence and systemic changes in the body and acts as a mediator of interorgan communication related to aging.