Senescence

A senolytic drug pair improved late-life function and survival in mice

June 13, 2026

English digest

A leukemia drug and a plant flavonoid just made one of aging biology's boldest ideas look practical: remove worn-out cells, and old animals move better and live longer.

In a 2018 Nature Medicine study, Ming Xu, Tamar Pirtskhalava, Joshua Farr and colleagues tested whether senescent cells are merely a marker of aging or an active driver of frailty. They transplanted small numbers of senescent cells into young and older mice, then treated animals with the senolytic combination dasatinib plus quercetin. In parallel, they gave the same intermittent oral cocktail to naturally aged mice and measured walking speed, grip strength, treadmill endurance, daily activity, tissue senescence markers, inflammatory signals, and survival after treatment began.

The senescent-cell transplants were enough to trigger persistent physical dysfunction, showing that these cells can spread damage rather than simply sit inside old tissue. Dasatinib plus quercetin selectively reduced senescent-cell burden and blunted the frailty-like decline. In naturally aged mice, intermittent treatment improved physical performance and increased post-treatment survival by 36%, while lowering mortality hazard. The team also tested human adipose tissue explants and found that the drug pair reduced naturally occurring senescent cells and frailty-related inflammatory cytokines. That cross-species signal strengthened the case that senolysis is not just a mouse curiosity.

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Source paper

Xu M, Pirtskhalava T, Farr JN et al. Senolytics improve physical function and increase lifespan in old age

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