Research
Hormonal
Senescent fat progenitors secrete activin A, which directly inhibits adipogenesis (fat cell formation) in non-senescent progenitors, contributing to age-related lipodystrophy.
This finding explains why fat tissue function declines with age: senescent cells release activin A, which blocks the creation of new, healthy fat cells. This is a biological mechanism, not a lifestyle factor.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
We report here that senescent fat progenitors impede differentiation of non-senescent progenitors, in part by secreting activin A... which can inhibit adipogenesis and interfere with stem cell and progenitor function.
Why this rating
Supported by in vitro human cell studies and in vivo mouse data showing reduced activin A upon senescent cell clearance.
Source
Targeting senescent cells enhances adipogenesis and metabolic function in old age
Ming Xu et al. · eLife · 2015
DOI 10.7554/elife.12997
mechanism_onlyCited 589×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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