Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39972172›Full record

ArticleNature aging2025

Enhanced paracrine action of FGF21 in stromal cells delays thymic aging.

Yun-Hee Youm, Christy Gliniak, Yuan Zhang, Tamara Dlugos, Philipp E Scherer, Vishwa Deep Dixit

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature aging, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. AAV-mediated FGF21 gene therapy promotes health span extension by whole-body tissue-specific adaptations.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Thymic regeneration and tumor immunotherapy.Frontiers in immunology · 2026
    Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. FGF21 keeps the thymus young.Nature aging · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Yun-Hee YoumDepartment of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8098-8527
Christy GliniakTouchstone Diabetes Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3806-6112
Yuan ZhangDepartment of Pharmacology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Tamara DlugosDepartment of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Philipp E SchererTouchstone Diabetes Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0680-3392
Vishwa Deep DixitDepartment of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. Vishwa.Dixit@yale.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5341-6494

Funding

The role of AgRP/Auga-ALK pathway in FGF21's brain action on agingP01AG051459 · NIA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI PHILIPP E SCHERER · 2016 to 2026
$25.7M
NIA NIH HHS P01 AG051459U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) P01AG051459
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Age-related thymic involution precedes aging of all other organs in vertebrates and initiates the process of declining T cell diversity, which leads to eventual immune dysfunction. Whether FGF21, a liver-derived pro-longevity hormone that is also produced in thymic stroma, including by adipocytes, controls the mechanism of thymic demise is incompletely understood. Here, we demonstrate that elevation of FGF21 in thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and in adipocytes protects against thymic aging, whereas conditional hepatic overexpression did not impact thymic biology in aged mice. Notably, elevation of thymic FGF21 increased naïve CD8 T cells in aged animals and extended healthspan. Mechanistically, thymic FGF21 overexpression elevated TECs and reduced fibroadipogenic cells. Ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FGF21 in Foxn1

Indexed as

AgingFibroblast Growth FactorsParacrine CommunicationStromal CellsThymus GlandAnimalsCD8-Positive T-LymphocytesEpithelial CellsKlotho ProteinsLymphopoiesisMaleMembrane ProteinsMiceMice, Inbred C57BLfibroblast growth factor 21Fibroblast Growth FactorsKlotho ProteinsMembrane Proteins

Identifiers

PMID39972172
PMCPMC12003152

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.