Progeria, rapamycin and normal aging: recent breakthrough.

A recent discovery that rapamycin suppresses a pro-senescent phenotype in progeric cells not only suggests a non-toxic therapy for progeria but also implies its similarity with normal aging. For one, rapamycin is also known to suppress aging of regular human cells. Here I discuss four potential scenarios, comparing progeria with both normal and accelerated aging. This reveals further indications of rapamycin both for accelerated aging in obese and for progeria.