Migrasomes trigger innate immune activation and mediate transmission of senescence signals across human cells

Abstract

Aging is a complex and heterogeneous process, raising important questions about how aging is differently impacted by underlying genetics and external factors. Recently, migrasomes, newly discovered organelles, have been identified to play important roles in various physiological and pathological processes by facilitating cell-to-cell communication. Thus far, their involvement in cellular senescence and aging remains largely unexplored. In this study, we aimed to investigate how migrasomes impact on cellular aging by leveraging multiple cellular senescence models, including replicatively senescent (RS), pathologically senescent and stress-induced senescent human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), as well as RS human primary fibroblasts. In all cellular aging models, we detected an enhanced formation of migrasomes. Notably, migrasomes in senescent cells exhibited an accumulation of numerous aging hallmarks, such as dysfunctional mitochondria, endogenous retroviruses, and senescence-associated pro-inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, we discovered that migrasomes derived from senescent cells can be taken up by young cells, thereby transferring aging signals and subsequently causing premature senescence phenotypes in recipient cells. Mechanistically, we found that treatment with migrasomes derived from senescent cells activated the innate immune response. Thus, our study sheds light on a pivotal role of migrasomes in mediating the contagiousness of aging.