A team of researchers working for the IFOM foundation in Milan has identified a class of specific molecules that can block the signals leading to cell aging caused by the deterioration of telomeres - repetitive nucleotide sequences at each end of a chromosome that protect it.

The study, published Monday in Nature Communications, could lay the foundations to work on cell aging in some telomere diseases such as liver cirrhosis, pulmonary fibrosis, diabetes, cataracts, osteoporosis and arthritis.