Replacing the damaged cell population in neurodegenerative diseases provides a treatment approach. However, interventions that protect host cells could offer new treatment possibilities for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Trisomy 21, the abnormal third copy of chromosome 21 causing developmental disorders in Down syndrome, has been shown to promote reorganization of the entire neural progenitor cell (NPC) genome, with the resulting gene transcription and cell function disruption being so similar to senescence that anti-senescence drugs could correct them in cell cultures.