Brain inflammation due to aging is caused by DNA leaking out of mitochondria

Chronic inflammation that occurs with aging involves a pathway called the ``cGAS-STING pathway''. A new study found that inflammation in the brain is due to DNA leaking out of damaged mitochondria within microglial cells.

cGAS–STING drives aging-related inflammation and neurodegeneration | Nature

The Aging Brain: Is Misplaced DNA to Blame? | Science | AAAS

This was revealed by a research team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne and the World Health Institute.

The ``cGAS-STING pathway'' is a pathway related to innate immunity and is known to be the cause of chronic inflammation that occurs with aging, but research is still ongoing as to why inflammation occurs and how to deal with it. has progressed.

In 2018, the research team discovered that the cGAS-STING pathway is key to the inflammation seen in the aging brain and in the brains of patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

Targeting STING with covalent small-molecule inhibitors | Nature

The new study went one step further and found that DNA leakage from damaged mitochondria in microglial cells triggers inflammation that causes cognitive and memory decline.

The research team is also studying STING inhibitors, and it has been confirmed that administration prevented a series of inflammation in various tissues of mice.

Looking at the results alone, it seems that there is a direct relationship between mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation, but the research team believes that it is nuclear DNA, not mitochondrial DNA, that causes the inflammatory response. In addition, we are calling attention to the fact that inflammatory reactions may be seen not only in microglial cells but also in neurons.

In response to this result, Mr. Derek Low, who has a doctorate in organic chemistry and has been involved in drug discovery for Alzheimer's disease and diabetes at a major pharmaceutical company, said that there seems to be a relationship that `` aging makes it easier to develop cancer '' , suggesting that there may also be trade-offs between aging and the ability to cope with viruses.