Regenerative Medicine in Aging: Mechanisms, Models, and Therapeutic Innovations

Aging is a complex biological process characterized by the gradual decline in cellular function, tissue regeneration, and organ system efficiency over time. This decline leads to increased vulnerability to age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disorders, osteoporosis, and frailty, which affect a growing proportion of the global population. According to the World Health Organization, by 2050, the number of people aged 60 and older will exceed 2 billion, making age-related diseases a critical public health concern. Despite significant advances in understanding the biological mechanisms underlying aging, there are still no pharmacological interventions that can effectively halt or slow the aging process.

Regenerative medicine holds great promise as a therapeutic tool for aging. It involves using biological approaches to repair or replace damaged tissues and restore function, with a focus on stem cells and tissue regeneration. However, as we age, the regenerative capacity of tissues declines due to stem cell exhaustion, cellular senescence, and altered signaling pathways. This impairs the body’s ability to repair and regenerate damaged tissues, making aging-associated degeneration more pronounced. By targeting and enhancing regenerative processes, regenerative medicine has the potential to slow aging and alleviate its associated diseases, offering hope for improved quality of life in aging populations.

As the global population ages, the ability to combat age-related diseases and tissue degeneration has become an urgent challenge. Regenerative medicine stands at the forefront of innovative strategies to restore tissue function, repair damaged organs, and promote healing, offering hope for improving quality of life and extending lifespan. However, the complexities of aging at the cellular and molecular levels present both opportunities and challenges for therapeutic development. Central to regenerative medicine is a deeper understanding of the biological mechanisms that drive cellular aging, stem cell dysfunction, and tissue regeneration, especially in the context of aging tissues that become increasingly less responsive to repair processes. To develop successful regenerative therapies, it is critical to unravel the molecular pathways that regulate cellular senescence and the maintenance of tissue integrity.

Explore the potential of targeting regenerative processes to slow aging, particularly in disease contexts, using chemical biology, pharmacology, bioinformatics, multi-omics analysis, or literature review. Key areas of focus include, but are not limited to:

- Understanding how aging and regeneration correlate and how regeneration changes with age
- Identifying the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways regulating regenerative processes.
- Exploring the role of stem cells in aging, their functional decline, and how their activity can be restored.
- Designing, developing, and optimizing in vitro and in vivo models for aging and/or regeneration.
- Small molecule and therapeutic interventions targeting regeneration in aging
- Stem cell-based approaches and mechanisms for age-related diseases and tissue regeneration

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Aging, Regeneration, Stem Cells, Therapeutics, Molecular Pathways

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