NKG2D-CAR T cells eliminate senescent cells in aged mice and nonhuman primates.
Dong YangBin SunShirong LiWenwen WeiXiuyun LiuXiaoyue CuiXianning ZhangNan LiuLanzhen YanYibin DengXudong ZhaoPublished in: Science translational medicine (2023)
Cellular senescence, characterized by stable cell cycle arrest, plays an important role in aging and age-associated pathologies. Eliminating senescent cells rejuvenates aged tissues and ameliorates age-associated diseases. Here, we identified that natural killer group 2 member D ligands (NKG2DLs) are up-regulated in senescent cells in vitro, regardless of stimuli that induced cellular senescence, and in various tissues of aged mice and nonhuman primates in vivo. Accordingly, we developed and demonstrated that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting human NKG2DLs selectively and effectively diminish human cells undergoing senescence induced by oncogenic stress, replicative stress, DNA damage, or P16 INK4a overexpression in vitro. Targeting senescent cells with mouse NKG2D-CAR T cells alleviated multiple aging-associated pathologies and improved physical performance in both irradiated and aged mice. Autologous T cells armed with the human NKG2D CAR effectively delete naturally occurring senescent cells in aged nonhuman primates without any observed adverse effects. Our findings establish that NKG2D-CAR T cells could serve as potent and selective senolytic agents for aging and age-associated diseases driven by senescence.
Keyphrases
- cell cycle arrest
- induced apoptosis
- dna damage
- endothelial cells
- cell death
- pi k akt
- natural killer cells
- nk cells
- oxidative stress
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- physical activity
- gene expression
- stem cells
- stress induced
- mental health
- adipose tissue
- mouse model
- dna repair
- high fat diet induced
- drug induced
- diabetic rats
- cell therapy