Pathobiology of aging: an old problem gets a new look

T he pursuit of investigations into the science of aging is really designed to understand why cellular processes begin to fail with advancing age, and what molecular events contribute to this failure. In this regard, the distinction between aging and the diseases associated with aging becomes less clear, and they are most likely driven by the same or similar events related to biological decline. With the launch of Pathobiology of Aging & Age-related Diseases, we hope to enlighten the scientific community by recognizing outstanding pathobiology-based scientific contributions, allowing scientists to communicate data that might be of less interest in other journals more focused on generic aging or specific scientific disciplines. Aging is indeed an ‘old’ problem and is being studied in a variety of ways that use mammalian model systems to identify mechanistic pathways that can be targeted to maintain healthy living. In this regard, we are providing a ‘new’ venue for disseminating information that specifically focuses on the pathobiological aspects of aging and the chronic diseases directly associated with aging. There will be a commitment to publishing manuscripts that meet the highest standards of science, but the nature of the journal will allow highly detailed and image-intensive descriptions of the pathology of aging and disease conditions associated with aging. The aim is to provide an interdisciplinary venue for pathology-based manuscripts that focus on the physiological function of aging in preclinical mammalian models. Pathology is the study of events associated with the gross, histological, and cellular conditions considered abnormal. Pathobiology can be defined as the study of abnormal morphological features and the biological events associated with cellular dysfunction. In this regard, the pathobiology of aging and age-related diseases is an entity that fits nicely under the pathology umbrella but not yet recognized by the scientific community as having any stand-alone impact on advancing healthy aging. This is not to say that it should be a stand-alone entity. On the contrary, integration with physiology and anatomy is a key component to a comprehensive assessment of abnormal versus normal. Data describing the pathobiology of aging and the diseases generally associated with aging have unique challenges. By design, it covers a wide range of disciplines and has an underlying focus of addressing mechanisms using a pathological basis to define the progression of age-associated lesions. These types of data are by nature quite descriptive but still can be highly informative even in the absence of mechanistic details. Pathobiology of Aging & Age-related Diseases launches with six highly interesting articles: