Focus on immune aging

The immune system permeates and regulates organs and tissues across the body, and has diverse roles beyond pathogen control, including in development, tissue homeostasis and repair. The reshaping of the immune system that occurs during aging is therefore highly consequential. In this Focus issue, Nature Aging presents a collection of reviews of and opinions on recent advances in research into immune aging.

Park and colleagues propose a conceptual framework in which dysregulation of resident tissue macrophages is both a central contributor to how an aging immune system causes diseases, including cancer, and a potential therapeutic target.

Delgado-Pulido, Yousefzadeh and Mittelbrunn explore the molecular mechanisms by which adaptive immunity regulates the processes of aging, discussing age-related declines in protective functions and age-related gains of autoaggressive features in turn.

Weyand and Goronzy discuss how aging increases the risk for autoimmune disease. They propose that the inappropriate endurance of immune stemness predisposes older individuals to autoimmunity, as exemplified in patients with giant cell arteritis.

Majewska and Krizhanovsky discuss the interactions of innate and adaptive immune cells with senescent cells, including mechanisms of clearance, evasion and paracrine senescence, as well as therapeutic strategies to restore surveillance in aging and disease.

Kim and Dixit review the hallmarks of immune aging with a focus on the interplay between metabolism and immune aging. They highlight metabolic pathways as potential therapeutic targets to improve immune function and organismal health in aging.

Inflammaging is a chronic, low-grade inflammatory state that is closely linked to aging; yet it is highly heterogeneous. Within the framework of personalized medicine, Franceschi and colleagues discuss measuring and treating inflammaging, highlighting the need for precision interventions.

Hofer and colleagues explore how immunosenescence impairs vaccine efficacy in older adults, then review emerging vaccine technologies and gerotherapeutic interventions as strategies to enhance protective responses.