Could prions be another potential root cause? Either contributing to the DNA damage <-> mitochondrial ROS feedback loop, or as a cause of some separate conditionally independent aging factor?
Unlikely. This isn’t something I’ve studied much, but based on my current understanding:
Prions are quite rare to start with, IIUC there are not currently any known prions which show up in the whole human population.
Prions still turn over via the normal protein turnover mechanisms, so the only way they stick around is by reproducing faster than that turnover, and that would all be on a timescale much much faster than human aging.
Could prions be another potential root cause? Either contributing to the DNA damage <-> mitochondrial ROS feedback loop, or as a cause of some separate conditionally independent aging factor?
Unlikely. This isn’t something I’ve studied much, but based on my current understanding:
Prions are quite rare to start with, IIUC there are not currently any known prions which show up in the whole human population.
Prions still turn over via the normal protein turnover mechanisms, so the only way they stick around is by reproducing faster than that turnover, and that would all be on a timescale much much faster than human aging.