cGAS-STING Signaling as a Molecular Bridge Between Inflammation, Ovarian Ageing, and Reproductive Failure
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Infertility and ovarian ageing are increasingly acknowledged as illnesses affected not just by endocrine decline but also by chronic inflammatory stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in the reproductive milieu. The cGAS-STING signalling pathway has emerged as a significant possibility linking these activities. The cGAS-STING pathway, originally defined as a cytosolic DNA-sensing mechanism essential for innate immune defence, is now recognised as a broader modulator of sterile inflammation, cellular senescence, and tissue failure. Experimental reproductive models suggest that the activation of this system may operate as a crucial link between mitochondrial dysfunction, cytosolic DNA accumulation, inflammatory cytokine production, and the progressive decline of ovarian and endometrial function. The activation of cGAS-STING in granulosa cells has been associated with inflammatory signalling and impaired steroidogenic activity.
DOI: 10.3390/ijms27104559
Authors: Charalampos Voros, Fotios Chatzinikolaou, Georgios Papadimas, Ali Can Gunes, Aristotelis-Marios Koulakmanidis, Ioannis Papapanagiotou, Athanasios Karpouzos, Diamantis Athanasiou, Kyriakos Bananis, Antonia Athanasiou, Aikaterini Athanasiou, Charalampos Tsimpoukelis, Maria Anastasia Daskalaki, Christina Trakatelli, Nikolaos Thomakos, Panagiotis Antsaklis, Dimitrios Loutradis, Georgios Daskalakis
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,499
OpenAlex ID: W7161637142