Circulating microRNAs in aging

Aging research is currently focusing on circulating functional markers that can help discriminate the mechanisms of physiological aging from those of age-related diseases (ARDs). The cellular model of choice for this type of studies, cell senescence, has been providing highly valuable information. Senescent cells are characterized by permanent cell cycle arrest and acquisition of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) [1]. This identifiable secretome can propagate senescence to surrounding cells and contribute to inflamm-aging, the systemic pro-inflammatory drift that accompanies aging and ARDs [2]. Micro (mi)RNAs are short, single-stranded RNAs that are increasingly recognized as epigenetic regulators of gene expression, modulating all cell functions includin