Longevity & AgingBlocking STING in Marrow Macrophages Helps Preserve Bone in Aging Mice
Bone loss with age may be driven partly by an immune alarm pathway called cGAS–STING, according to a new mouse study. As mice aged, this pathway became more active in bone marrow macrophages, immune cells that sit beside the cells that build bone. Old marrow fat cells released a protein called DPP4, which appeared to amplify the inflammatory signal and push macrophages to impair bone-building cells. When researchers silenced STING in macrophages from 12 to 18 months of age, the mice kept more bone density and structure, formed more new bone, and had fewer marrow fat cells. The work points to a feedback loop between marrow fat, immune activation and weakened bone formation. It is early, preclinical research in mice, but it highlights STING and DPP4 as potential targets for preserving bone during aging.
