Ageing articles from across Nature Portfolio

Regulatory T (T_reg) cells have an important role in age-related diseases and inflammation; however, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Li et al. identify a T_reg-specific long noncoding RNA, Altre, that binds Yin Yang 1 to regulate liver T_reg mitochondrial function in old mice. Altre deletion accelerates aging-associated liver pathogenesis.

Seegren et al. demonstrate that the mitochondrial calcium uptake complex is a key molecular apparatus that links age-related changes in mitochondrial physiology to systemic macrophage-mediated age-associated inflammation.

With increasing age, brown adipose tissue (BAT) becomes characterized by increased adiposity and immune cell infiltration but reduced thermogenic capacity. Here the authors report that bone marrow-derived pro-inflammatory and senescent S100A8⁺ immune cells accumulate in BAT of male rats and mice during aging and contribute to BAT dysfunction.

Microglia, the innate immune cells of the brain, exhibit diverse functions and can influence Alzheimer’s disease progression. This study explores human microglial diversity in Alzheimer’s disease, uncovering unique disease-associated microglial populations and predicting underlying gene regulatory networks.