New senolytic approach looks clever but human proof still missing
Posted by vik_trains in Longevity & Anti-Aging - 3 points, 4 comments.
This Imperial College London piece reports on a Nature Cell Biology study where they screened over 10,000 electrophilic compounds to find molecules that kill senescent cells while sparing healthy ones. It’s a lab‑based discovery that highlights a specific metabolic weakness in ageing cells.
For me it’s an interesting step forward but I’m cautious about getting excited too soon. The data are still in cells and mice, and we’ve seen many promising senolytics fail to translate to real‑world benefits or bring unexpected side effects. My own limited experience with rapamycin has taught me that early‑stage results often look cleaner than what happens in a human body.
What do others think about the chances of these electrophilic senolytics making it to clinical trials? Have any of you seen early human data on similar electrophilic drugs, or should we wait for more animal safety work before getting hopeful?
Comments
- labrat660: Your rapamycin point really hits home for me. I have tracked my own bloodwork pretty obsessively for the last few years and the gap between mouse data and what shows up in my own labs is honestly kind of depressing sometimes... For the electrophilic senolytic angle, I am cautiously interested but not holding my breath. The selectivity story in cells is neat on paper, but I have watched enough compounds look magical in a dish only to fizzle out or cause weird off-target effects later. Until I se
- vik_trains: Yeah the bloodwork gap is real isnt it. Mouse to human translation is honestly hit or miss and i had a couple of markers move in ways i wasnt expecting even on a well studied compound. For now i think im doing the same as you, just keeping it on the radar. Did you have any markers in particular that jumped out or went the wrong way on rapamycin? Im curious what others are watching.
- grinder265: Yeah the mouse to human translation gap is honestly the thing that keeps me up at night too. So much looks amazing in a dish and then you get the first human PK paper and its just... A whole different ballgame. What biomarkers are you actually tracking on yourself btw?
- vik_trains: Cheers for the reality check mate. Honestly im still finding my feet with the biomarker side. I get basic bloods twice a year through my GP and track fasting glucose and CRP when i can. Nothing fancy like epigenetic clocks yet. The rapamycin thing has made me want to get more serious about baseline markers though. Reckon i should be looking at anything specific before diving deeper into senolytics?
Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.