Cellular Senescence Contributes to Large Elastic Artery Stiffening and Endothelial Dysfunction With Aging: Amelioration With Senolytic Treatment

Here, we assessed the role of cellular senescence and the senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP) in age-related aortic stiffening and endothelial dysfunction. We studied young (6-8 mo) and old (27-29 mo) p16-3MR mice, which allows for genetic-based clearance of senescent cells with ganciclovir (GCV). We also treated old C57BL/6N mice with the senolytic ABT-263. In old mice, GCV reduced aortic stiffness assessed by aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV; 477±10 vs. 382±7 cm/s,