In aged cells, mitochondrial dysfunction leads to mislocalization of mitochondrial DNA fragments to the cytosol. There, innate immune defenses such as the cGAS-STING pathway react to the mitochondrial DNA in much the same way as they would react to bacterial or viral sequences, provoking inflammatory signaling. This is a bad thing, a maladaptive response that contributes to age-related disease and loss of function. Here, researchers show that this c…
Chronic Activation of cGAS-STING in Aged Macrophages Reduces Normal STING Response to Pathogens
In aged cells, mitochondrial dysfunction leads to mislocalization of mitochondrial DNA fragments to the cytosol. There, innate immune defenses such as the cGAS-STING pathway react to the mitochondrial DNA in much the same way as they would react to bacterial or viral sequences, provoking inflammatory signaling. This is a bad thing, a maladaptive response that contributes to age-related disease and loss of function. Here, researchers show that this c…