Counteracting age-related VEGF signaling insufficiency promotes healthy aging and extends life span

Grunewald M, Kumar S, Sharife H, Volinsky E, Gileles-Hillel A, Licht T, Permyakova A, Hinden L, Azar S, Friedmann Y, Kupetz P, Tzuberi R, Anisimov A, Alitalo K, Horwitz M, Leebhoff S, Khoma OZ, Hlushchuk R, Djonov V, Abramovitch R, Tam J, Keshet E. Counteracting age-related VEGF signaling insufficiency promotes healthy aging and extends life span. Science. 2021 Jul 30;373(6554):eabc8479. doi: 10.1126/science.abc8479. PMID: 34326210.

VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) is an angiogenic factor that promotes the development and repair of blood vessels. It is hypoxically induced and acts to match tissue needs. The reason for its age-related depletion is unknown.

This paper increased the levels of VEGF in mice and found that there was an amelioration of age-related disorders including inflammaging, sarcopenia and osteoporosis. In mice with reduced levels of VEGF they found an accelerated development of these age-related disorders.