GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As humans age, we develop chronic inflammation in our blood and tissues that gradually decreases the function of blood stem cells in our bone marrow. These defects harm blood cell production and the immune system, often leading to a slew of complications and weakening responses to chemotherapy.

Now, UF Health Cancer Center researchers have discovered a way to prevent this inflammation, called “inflammaging,” by systemically targeting a protein. The findings in mice, published Jan. 3 in Science Immunology, could pave the way for therapies aimed at preserving an aging blood system, with implications for cancer treatments and aging-related diseases, including anemias, infections, and blood cancers.

“We set out to determine if we could fully preserve and rejuvenate blood stem cell function during the course of aging, a goal that had remained largely elusive so far,” said Jason Butler, Ph.D., a professor and vice chief of research in the UF Division of Hematology and Oncology and a member of the UF Health Cancer Center, who led the new study.