IMMUNOLOGY2026™ Conference Recordings For Attendees-Age Dependent Immune Remodeling as a Driver of Autoimmune Disease

Age Dependent Immune Remodeling as a Driver of Autoimmune Disease

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The talk explains how the human immune system ages in two major waves, around the 40s and early 60s, based on large multi-omics studies. Surprisingly, many autoimmune diseases are diagnosed later in life, mostly after age 50, with rheumatoid arthritis as a key example. The speaker argues that aging T cells and macrophages become metabolically compromised: mitochondrial DNA repair fails, NAD drops, ATP production falls, and the TCA cycle is disrupted. This causes ER stress, lipid droplet buildup, inflammasome activation, and inflammatory cytokine production, especially TNF. In rheumatoid arthritis, these aged T cells behave more like innate immune cells and are prone to pyroptotic lytic death, releasing inflammatory material into tissues. Overall, aging shifts immunity from protection to pathology, increasing susceptibility to autoimmune disease.

Meta Tag

Date April 18, 2026 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Room 104C

Session Autoimmunity, Neurodegeneration and Aging

Speaker Cornelia Weyand

Track Basic Autoimmunity (BA)

Year 2026

Keywords

immune system aging

autoimmune disease

rheumatoid arthritis

T cell dysfunction

mitochondrial metabolism

inflammation

April 18, 2026 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

104C

Autoimmunity, Neurodegeneration and Aging

Cornelia Weyand

Basic Autoimmunity (BA)

2026