Naked Mole Rats (NMRs) are the longest-living rodents known; they live >28y in captivity which is ~9x longer than similarly-sized mice. NMRs show attenuated age-related declines in both morphology (e.g. bone loss) and function ( e.g. vascular function). Furthermore, we have never seen any... >> MORE
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2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging A major model of aging postulates that DNA mutations accumulate within mitochondria as we age. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is particularly vulnerable, because mitochondria are a major source of reactive oxygen species, small molecules that can damage DNA. This damage causes mtDNA mutations, whose... >> MORE |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging Decreased insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I signaling is associated with extended lifespan. However, the underlying mechanisms relating the IGF system and longevity are poorly understood. The IGF system is complex with ubiquitous IGF receptors present on cells to transduce a response, but also... >> MORE |
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2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging The most effective experimental way to prolong lifespan and slow aging in rodents is to limit their calorie intake by feeding them a controlled balanced diet, a regimen known as calorie restriction (CR). Since calorie restricted animals undergo a reduction of their core body temperature (CBT),... >> MORE |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging The immune system is central to human health and its impairment or dysfunction can have severe or even fatal consequences. One of the hallmarks of aging is the progressive loss of immune function, exposing older people to increased risk from infectious diseases that would not normally be more than... >> MORE |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging Cancers arise through the gradual acquisition of mutations in susceptible cells in the body - mutations that wreck the normal mechanisms that restrain cell growth, proliferation, survival movement and invasion and maintain normal architecture and dynamics of our tissue. There is an enormous... >> MORE |
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2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging There have recently been many exciting advances in research aimed at understanding and ultimately curing devastating neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. In particular, the explosion of molecular genetic technology has led to the identification of genes... >> MORE |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging The discovery of genes that positively or negatively affect how long an organism lives has been a tremendous advance in the science of aging. While numerous genes have been isolated that affect the longevity of organisms like worms and flies, to date, there have been relatively few genes that... >> MORE |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging Stem cells are present in many adult tissues, where they serve to replenish the cells of that tissue as they become exhausted. The role of stem cells in aging is not completely understood - one might expect that if stem cells were able to perform ideally, they would be able to refresh the cells of... >> MORE |
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2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging Aging is observed in all animal species. Studies in vertebrates, insects, nematodes and yeast suggest that conserved biochemical and genetic pathways are involved in lifespan regulation. For example, insulin signaling and sirtuin activity have dramatic effects in longevity across species.... >> MORE |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging The old heart is a stiff heart and thus is less easily able to fill with blood and empty with each heart beat. The emphasis of this project is on studies designed to determine the basis for this increased stiffness of the heart in aging. Fibroblasts are the most numerous cells in the heart and... >> MORE |
Dr. Gerald E. McClearnPennsylvania State University
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2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging Recent advances in genetic mapping techniques have made possible the identification of chromosomal regions in which there are aging-relevant ìquantitative trait lociî (QTLs)--genes that influence aging processes but that are, as yet, not specifically identified. Most current research in this... >> MORE |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging We sense aging as something that happens to our bodies, but as scientists we know that the underlying causes lie in the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, changes that go on in our cells. We also know that these changes are complex and that they progress in many tissues. As yet, no one has... >> MORE |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging The research in my laboratory concerns aspects of quality control in protein synthesis. The failure rate in protein synthesis is substantial, which necessitates a reliable means of disposal for these error-containing and therefore unwanted proteins. The risk associated with accumulation of... >> MORE |
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2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging Changes in gene expression in aged adults across species do not solely seem to be implemented in response to mounting cellular damage; rather, conserved, developmentally-timed transcriptional regulation during young adulthood seems to control features of aging. For example, early adult C.... >> MORE |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging Cellular energy is derived ultimately from the food we ingest. In order to be useful to the cell, food components such as proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates are eventually broken down into molecule-sized components. Through the process of "glycolysis," an individual cell converts carbohydrate... >> MORE |
2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging We are developing methods that can introduce therapeutic genetic material into the brain to slow down the progression of degenerative diseases linked to aging. We propose to use regulatable lentiviral vectors to deliver genes into specific areas of the brain by stereotaxic injections. Since the... >> MORE |
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2006 Senior Scholar Award in Aging A consequence of normal cellular respiration is the formation of reactive oxygen species, small molecules that can react with a variety of cellular components. Many studies have suggested that the interaction of reactive oxygen species with cellular structures contributes to aging and... >> MORE |
The Ellison Medical Foundation