iPSCs-based anti-aging therapies: Recent discoveries and future challenges

• No drug has yet proven useful against senescence and its related disorders (e.g. sarcopenia).
• iPSCs represent a potential strategy for regenerative medicine.
• In vivo reprogramming may also represent a new promising technique for rejuvenation of tissues.

The main biological hallmarks of the aging process include stem cell exhaustion and cellular senescence. Consequently, research efforts to treat age-related diseases as well as anti-aging therapies in general have recently focused on potential ‘reprogramming’ regenerative therapies. These new approaches are based on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), including potential in vivo reprogramming for tissue repair. Another possibility is targeting pathways of cellular senescence, e.g., through modulation of p16INK4a signaling and especially inhibition of the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB). Here, we reviewed and discussed these recent developments together with their possible usefulness for future treatments against sarcopenia, a major age-related condition.