Hypothesis: synthetic aging antigen can be used to manipulate cellular lifespan

Physiologic removal of old and damaged erythrocytes, platelets, and other terminally differentiated cells is initiated by the appearance of an aging antigen that marks them for death by initiating the binding of IgG autoantibody and subsequent removal by phagocytes. We have developed a synthetic aging antigen peptide that blocks binding of IgG to senescent cells in vitro. We hypothesize that the synthetic antigen can be used to prevent cell destruction in diseases such as autoimmune hemolytic anemias and idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura, and that the antigen itself can be used to manipulate cellular lifespan in vivo.