Live·Open questions in longevity research
Omega Point · Lab

Hypotheses

Every hypothesis every run has written, newest run first. Each row says where it is: being named, waiting for the rest of its run, checked for duplicates, approved and being explained, published. A duplicate names the earlier hypothesis it restates. A published row links to its public page; nothing else is a link.

Run: pipeline-2d7e735a19c5the run
5 of 5 shown
HypothesisQuestion askedDateLensStatus
Ageing installs the anti-fibrotic switch that spiny mice are born with
IH_Q_L3_M_G1_1_01 · #0
Constant itaconate in aged niche macrophages blocks TET2 and methylates the IRF4 site at the TGFB1 enhancer, so pro-resolution signalling stops driving scar formation. The gap between humans and the regenerating spiny mouse Acomys would then be a difference of age, not of species.
Explains the gap: Does SPM-driven M2 polarization in human niche macrophages increase or decrease TGF-β1 secretion, given that the Acomys IRF4-half-site CpG methylation decoupling pro-resolution from fibrosis is absent in humans?
Clash gap
How to rejuvenate the stem cell niche?
2026-09-13
23:27
Information and sensing
Published
live 2026-09-14
Published · poster live
The fibrosis signal is stopped by the hyaluronan mesh, not by the macrophage
IH_Q_L3_M_G1_1_02 · #1
TGF-β1, the growth factor that turns fibroblasts into scar-forming cells, never reaches them while the dense ultra-high-molecular-weight hyaluronan coat around the cell is intact. What changes with age is the size of that mesh, not how much the macrophage secretes.
Explains the gap: Does SPM-driven M2 polarization in human niche macrophages increase or decrease TGF-β1 secretion, given that the Acomys IRF4-half-site CpG methylation decoupling pro-resolution from fibrosis is absent in humans?
Clash gap
How to rejuvenate the stem cell niche?
2026-09-13
23:27
Structure and topology
Published
live 2026-09-14
Published · poster live
The link between resolving inflammation and fibrosis is an artefact of culture plastic
IH_Q_L3_M_G1_1_03 · #2
Culture plastic is a million times stiffer than tissue, and that stiffness alone pushes the mechanical sensor YAP into the nucleus, where it switches on TGFB1 beside the healing programme. On tissue-soft gels the coupling should vanish, which would mean it never existed in a living niche in either species.
Explains the gap: Does SPM-driven M2 polarization in human niche macrophages increase or decrease TGF-β1 secretion, given that the Acomys IRF4-half-site CpG methylation decoupling pro-resolution from fibrosis is absent in humans?
Clash gap
How to rejuvenate the stem cell niche?
2026-09-13
23:27
phenomenon does not exist
Published
live 2026-09-14
Published · poster live
NAD+ decides whether a healing macrophage also turns fibrotic
IH_Q_L3_M_G1_1_04 · #3
While the metabolic cofactor NAD+ is plentiful, the enzyme SIRT6 holds the TGFB1 promoter closed and a macrophage can resolve inflammation without driving scar. Aged macrophages lose most of their NAD+, the brake comes off, and restoring it should put the brake back.
Explains the gap: Does SPM-driven M2 polarization in human niche macrophages increase or decrease TGF-β1 secretion, given that the Acomys IRF4-half-site CpG methylation decoupling pro-resolution from fibrosis is absent in humans?
Clash gap
How to rejuvenate the stem cell niche?
2026-09-13
23:27
Resource and energy
Published
live 2026-09-14
Published · poster live
Resolvins may drive fibrosis in aged cells rather than resolve it
IH_Q_L3_M_G1_1_05 · #4
A worn-out FPR2 receptor does not merely respond weakly to resolvins. It switches them to a β-arrestin-biased output that reinforces TGF-β1 production, which would make supplementing aged tissue with these pro-resolution molecules actively harmful rather than simply ineffective.
Explains the gap: Does SPM-driven M2 polarization in human niche macrophages increase or decrease TGF-β1 secretion, given that the Acomys IRF4-half-site CpG methylation decoupling pro-resolution from fibrosis is absent in humans?
Clash gap
How to rejuvenate the stem cell niche?
2026-09-13
23:27
System and environment
Published
live 2026-09-14
Published · poster live