Researchers hunt for proteins that control age-related inflammation

Overview

Updated May 20

Chronic, low-grade inflammation builds up with age and drives many of the diseases that come with growing old. A team at the University at Buffalo says they've found a protein, tristetraprolin, that pumps the brakes on it. When they boosted the protein in older mice, the animals grew stronger and had healthier bones than untreated peers.

The finding adds a concrete molecular target to geroscience, the field trying to treat aging itself instead of the diseases it causes. If the mouse results hold up in people, future therapies could slow age-related decline across the board rather than one disease at a time.

Why it matters

If geroscience finds the right molecular brakes on inflammation, you could prevent age-related decline rather than manage it disease by disease.

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Key Indicators

$2.1M

NIH grant

National Institutes of Health funding behind the Buffalo TTP study.

6 yrs

Research runway

Length of the Buffalo lab's tristetraprolin project before publication.

Mice

Stage

Preclinical only. No human trials of TTP modulation for aging exist yet.

26 yrs

Since 'inflammaging' was named

Italian immunologist Claudio Franceschi coined the term in 2000.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

People Involved

Keith Kirkwood

Professor, University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine

Lead author of the January 2026 tristetraprolin study

Claudio Franceschi

Italian immunologist; emeritus professor, University of Bologna

Foundational theorist of inflammaging

Ramkumar Thiyagarajan

Assistant Professor, University of Kansas Medical Center

First author of the January 2026 TTP study; planning follow-up neuroinflammation research with Kirkwood

Organizations Involved

University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine

Academic research institution

Home of the lab that published the TTP-aging study

Dental school whose periodontal research led into broader work on chronic inflammation and aging.

National Institute on Aging

Federal research agency

Primary funder of US geroscience research, including the TTP study

NIH institute that funds most US aging research, including senolytics, rapamycin, and inflammaging work.

Timeline

June 2000 May 2026

9 events Latest: May 19th, 2026 · 4 months ago

Tap a bar to jump to that date

May 2026
Inflammaging finding enters wider news cycle
Latest Coverage

ScienceDaily and other outlets amplify the TTP results, framing them as a concrete molecular target for slowing age-related decline.
May 19th, 2026
January 2026
TTP study published
Publication

Aging and Disease publishes the Buffalo paper showing boosted TTP makes older mice stronger and healthier.
January 15th, 2026
January 2020
Buffalo TTP project begins
Research

Kirkwood's lab starts its six-year NIH-funded study of tristetraprolin in aging.
January 1st, 2020
January 2018
First human senolytic pilot
Clinical

A small open-label trial tests senolytic drugs in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
January 1st, 2018
June 2015
TAME trial proposed
Trial design

Nir Barzilai proposes Targeting Aging with Metformin, a US trial to test whether a generic drug can delay multiple age-related diseases.
June 1st, 2015
April 2015
Senolytics shown in mice
Preclinical

James Kirkland's Mayo Clinic team reports that drugs clearing senescent cells improve healthspan in old mice.
April 1st, 2015
October 2014
Geroscience consensus published
Field-defining

A Cell paper formalizes geroscience: target aging mechanisms, treat many diseases at once.
October 15th, 2014
July 2009
Rapamycin extends mouse lifespan
Preclinical

A Nature paper shows rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor, lengthens life in elderly mice. Geroscience gains its first widely cited proof of concept.
July 1st, 2009
June 2000
Franceschi coins 'inflammaging'
Concept

Italian immunologist Claudio Franceschi names the chronic low-grade inflammation of aging and frames it as a shared driver of age-related disease.
June 1st, 2000

Scenarios

First human TTP trial registered by 2031

Possible Resolves by May 19, 2031

Discussed by: ScienceDaily coverage of the Buffalo study; geroscience researchers cited in scitechdaily.com

Boosting TTP works in mice. The standard next step is a phase 1 trial in humans, usually a small safety study in older adults with an inflammation-driven condition. The Buffalo group or a licensee files an investigational new drug application with the FDA and registers a trial on ClinicalTrials.gov. Mouse-to-trial timelines in geroscience have run roughly 3 to 7 years.

TTP results fail to replicate in independent labs

Possible Resolves by May 19, 2029

Discussed by: Standard skepticism in preclinical aging research; pattern flagged by NIH reproducibility initiatives

Mouse aging studies have a long history of failing to replicate. An independent lab attempts the same TTP-boosting protocol in aged mice and reports null results, no strength or bone improvement, or shows the effect depends on the specific mouse strain Buffalo used. This would slow translation into humans.

Pharma signs a TTP-aging deal by 2028

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: Pattern in geroscience: senolytics startups Unity Biotechnology and Rubedo Life Sciences attracted pharma deals within years of mouse data

A pharmaceutical company or aging-focused biotech licenses the Buffalo intellectual property, or acquires a startup spun out to commercialize TTP modulation. This is the usual path for promising preclinical aging targets and would be visible in SEC filings or company press releases.

FDA approves a drug for an aging or healthspan indication by 2031

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2031

Discussed by: Long-running debate over whether FDA will recognize aging as an indication; TAME trial advocates including Nir Barzilai

TTP is one of several geroscience candidates. The bigger field-shaping question is whether the FDA will ever approve a drug for aging itself. The TAME trial of metformin was the first major push. If FDA grants an aging or healthspan indication to any drug, the path opens for TTP-modulators behind it.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1976

Akira Endo isolates the first statin (1976)

Japanese biochemist Akira Endo isolated compactin from a Penicillium fungus while screening for cholesterol-lowering compounds. The molecule blocked the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase and became the prototype for the statin class.

Then

Compactin showed cholesterol-lowering effects in animals and small human studies through the early 1980s but was dropped over safety concerns.

Now

Merck's lovastatin won FDA approval in 1987, eleven years after Endo's discovery. Statins later became one of the most prescribed drug classes in the world.

Why this matters now

When a single molecular target really does control a chronic process, the payoff can be enormous, but rarely arrives in under a decade. TTP, if real, is at year zero of that arc.

July 2009

Rapamycin extends mouse lifespan (2009)

A Nature paper from the NIH Interventions Testing Program showed rapamycin extended lifespan in elderly mice by 9 to 14 percent. The drug, originally an immunosuppressant for transplant patients, became the highest-profile longevity candidate in mainstream science.

Then

Off-label rapamycin use spread among biohackers and a small number of physicians within five years. The PEARL trial began testing it in humans in 2020.

Now

Rapamycin has not won an FDA aging indication. Its side effect profile and regulatory caution have kept it stuck despite consistent mouse results.

Why this matters now

Shows the gap between strong mouse biology and accepted human therapy. TTP modulation would have to cross the same gap, which has held up rapamycin for over fifteen years.

April 2015

Senolytics shown to extend mouse healthspan (2015)

James Kirkland's team at Mayo Clinic reported in Aging Cell that a combination of dasatinib and quercetin selectively killed senescent cells in old mice, improving cardiovascular function and physical performance. The paper triggered a wave of geroscience startups and human pilot studies.

Then

Two biotechs, Unity Biotechnology and Cleara Biotech, formed within two years. The first human pilot launched in 2018 in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Now

Senolytics remain in human trials a decade later, with mixed results. No senolytic has won FDA approval for an aging indication.

Why this matters now

Same arc as the TTP finding: clean mouse data, fast pharma interest, slow translation. Reads as the most direct template for what comes next.