Metabolic reprogramming in inflammaging and aging in T cells

Abstract

Aging represents an emerging challenge for public health due to the declined immune responses against pathogens, weakened vaccination efficacy, and disturbed tissue homeostasis. Metabolic alterations in cellular and systemic levels are also known to be cardinal features of aging. Moreover, cellular metabolism has emerged to provide regulations to guide immune cell behavior via modulations on signaling cascades and epigenetic landscape, and the aberrant aging process in immune cells can lead to inflammaging, a chronic and low-grade inflammation that facilitates aging by perturbing homeostasis in tissues and organs. Here, we review how the metabolic program in T cells is influenced by the aging process and how aged T cells modulate inflammaging. In addition, we discuss the potential approaches to reverse or ameliorate aging by rewiring the metabolic programming of immune cells.