Mayo Clinic researchers characterize cardiac aging markers in GRZ killifish using echocardiography, swim tests, and molecular assays, demonstrating that dasatinib and quercetin treatment reduces senescence and preserves heart function.
Key points
- GRZ killifish serve as a rapid vertebrate model for cardiac aging using EF% and E/A ratio echocardiography.
- Senescence markers SA-β-gal, p15/p16, γ-H2A.X, and SASP transcripts increase in aged fish hearts.
- Oral dasatinib and quercetin (D+Q) senolytic therapy reduces senescent cell burden and preserves heart function.
Why it matters: This work provides a fast, vertebrate platform to evaluate anti-aging therapies and highlights senolytics’ potential to protect the aging heart.
Q&A
- What makes the killifish GRZ strain ideal for aging studies?
- How do echocardiography measurements reflect cardiac aging?
- What is cellular senescence and why is it harmful to the heart?
- How do dasatinib and quercetin eliminate senescent cells?