{"id":49392,"date":"2025-03-13T11:49:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T15:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/?post_type=news&#038;p=49392"},"modified":"2025-03-13T11:49:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T15:49:11","slug":"fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting \u201cZombie Cells\u201d to Heal Aging Skin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Zombie outbreaks aren\u2019t limited to popular TV shows, movies, and video games. In aging skin, these \u201cundead\u201d cells\u2014known as senescent cells\u2014linger indefinitely, damaging neighboring skin and making it susceptible to wounds that won\u2019t heal. But now, Johns Hopkins engineers have developed a groundbreaking treatment that targets these cells, offering hope for the millions struggling with slow-healing wounds and other age-related skin conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Led by <a href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/faculty\/efie-kokkoli\/\">Efie Kokkoli<\/a>, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the <a href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/\">Whiting School of Engineering,<\/a> the team\u2019s approach\u2014supported in part by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nia.nih.gov\/\">NIH\u2019s National Institute on Aging<\/a>\u2014combines two common existing medications in a gel that targets senescent cells, often called zombie cells, while stimulating skin\u2019s collagen production. The team\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/full\/10.1021\/acs.biomac.3c01461\">results<\/a> appear in <em>Biomacromolecules<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe present a novel strategy using valsartan\u2014a common blood pressure medication\u2014and metformin\u2014used for diabetes\u2014in a temperature-responsive gel-based delivery system to rejuvenate aging skin cells and enhance collagen production. Our targeted, extended-release delivery system offers patient-friendly therapies that combat cellular aging and restore skin integrity, bridging research with clinical applications,\u201d said Kokkoli, a core researcher at Johns Hopkins <a href=\"https:\/\/inbt.jhu.edu\/\">Institute for NanoBioTechnology<\/a> and targeted drug-delivery expert.<\/p>\n<p>With advancing age comes a slowdown of the body\u2019s natural healing mechanisms that stems largely from the loss of collagen, a protein that keeps skin healthy and flexible. Skin can become prone to tearing, even from minor trauma, increasing the risk of ulcers, sores, and wounds that don\u2019t heal easily. Traditional treatments, like wound dressings and antibiotics, help prevent infection but fail to repair the underlying condition\u2014diminishing collagen production and the dysfunction of older cells\u2014that prevents aging skin from healing.<\/p>\n<p>The team\u2019s innovative treatment strategy, which involves compounds that directly address senescent (aging) cells, represents a breakthrough in anti-aging research because it zeroes in on aging cells directly, reversing senescence and promoting cell growth while stimulating collagen production in both senescent and healthy cells.<\/p>\n<p>In laboratory tests, the team found that metformin rejuvenated senescent cells, helping them regain function, multiply, and reduce telltale signs of aging. Meanwhile, valsartan boosted collagen production in cells derived from both young and old adults.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough still in early experimental stages, this work lays the foundation for developing topical treatments that could improve wound healing and address age-related skin conditions in older adults,\u201d Kokkoli said.<\/p>\n<p>Study co-authors include Paul M. Kuhn, a former graduate student in chemical and biomolecular engineering and INBT affiliate now at TD Cowen, Siwei Chen, and Aditya Venkatraman, both graduate students in chemical and biomolecular engineering and INBT affiliates, as well as Peter Abadir, an associate professor, and Jeremy Walston, a professor\u2014both of the School of Medicine.<\/p>\n<p>This study was supported by the Johns Hopkins University Older Americans Independence Center of the National Institute on Aging and the Whiting School of Engineering of the Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-49392","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-faculty","news_categories-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fighting \u201cZombie Cells\u201d to Heal Aging Skin - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fighting \u201cZombie Cells\u201d to Heal Aging Skin - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zombie outbreaks aren\u2019t limited to popular TV shows, movies, and video games. In aging skin, these \u201cundead\u201d cells\u2014known as senescent cells\u2014linger indefinitely, damaging neighboring skin and making it susceptible to&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fighting \u201cZombie Cells\u201d to Heal Aging Skin - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fighting \u201cZombie Cells\u201d to Heal Aging Skin - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","og_description":"Zombie outbreaks aren\u2019t limited to popular TV shows, movies, and video games. In aging skin, these \u201cundead\u201d cells\u2014known as senescent cells\u2014linger indefinitely, damaging neighboring skin and making it susceptible to&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin\/","og_site_name":"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin\/","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin\/","name":"Fighting \u201cZombie Cells\u201d to Heal Aging Skin - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-03-13T15:49:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/fighting-zombie-cells-to-heal-aging-skin\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Fighting \u201cZombie Cells\u201d to Heal Aging Skin"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/#website","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/","name":"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","description":"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/49392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}