By Rachel Tompa – Stanford Medicine –
Research led by Stanford Medicine points to the first non-invasive imaging method to visualize senescent cells, which are alive but dormant and play a key role in many diseases.
Anyone who’s had a knee or other joint replacement surgery knows what an ordeal the procedure can be. But for many sufferers of osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, damage to the joints’ cartilage leaves them with few other options. Most medications for the condition focus on pain relief and don’t slow the progression of the disease.
An emerging class of therapies known as senolytics holds the promise to treat cells that contribute to arthritis, potentially delaying or even bypassing the need for invasive surgeries. Dormant cells, also known as senescent cells, can accelerate or trigger osteoarthritis. Senolytic therapies, some of which have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for cancer and other conditions, target senescent cells and are being tested in clinical trials for arthritis. But there’s been a holdup: Scientists have had no way to visualize the therapies’ cellular target in the body.
