Autologous NK cells propagated and activated ex vivo decrease senescence markers in human PBMCs

Aging is a multifactorial process involving many steps including senescence. The immune system plays a critical role in aging where chronic inflammation and senescence has been shown to be detrimental. Natural killer (NK) cells are the predominant innate lymphocyte subset that mediate various responses to include surveillance and elimination of senescent cells. Here, we use autologous propagated and activated NK (aNK) cells from 5 patients to demonstrate that aNK cells decrease senescent cells in vitro and immunosenescence in humans based on markers p16 and β-galactosidase. In addition, inflammatory cytokine panel data suggest a role for removal of immunosenescence to reduce the aging-related inflammatory response.