Reversing Immunosenescence to Respond to Novel Antigens

Ashton Trotman-Grant, Synthetic Biologist at 50 Years, spoke about the immune system and how it changes with age. Thymic involution, repertoire reduction, and inflammaging are some of the hallmarks of the aging immune system. These changes make it more difficult to respond to disease, eliminate cancerous or senescent cells, and heal wounds as you get older. A stem cell transplant is the best way to regenerate the thymus at this point in time, but it’s an ineffective process. Ashton proposes four new methods – targeting the epithelial microenvironment, modulating hormones and metabolism, focusing on cell therapies, and targeting hematopoietic progenitor cells for thymic regeneration.