First published at 02:34 UTC on February 2nd, 2024.
Aguado and his team found that SARS-CoV-2 actually accelerates this buildup of zombie cells, and thus premature aging.
"We found COVID-19 accelerates the presence of 'zombie' or senescent cells, which accumulate naturally and gradual…
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Aguado and his team found that SARS-CoV-2 actually accelerates this buildup of zombie cells, and thus premature aging.
"We found COVID-19 accelerates the presence of 'zombie' or senescent cells, which accumulate naturally and gradually in the brain as we get older," Aguado said.
But what if there was some way to turn back the biological clock?
"We used the brain organoids [aka the mini brains] to screen a range of therapeutics, looking for any capable of removing those senescent cells," Aguado said.
In their study, published in the journal Nature Aging, the team found four common drugs selectively destroyed these COVID-induced zombie cells: navitoclax, ABT-737, fisetin and a combination of dasatinib and quercetin.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-023-00519-6
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