{"id":622962,"date":"2024-10-16T08:17:20","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T12:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=622962"},"modified":"2025-11-19T15:30:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T20:30:24","slug":"comparative-genomics-across-species-aging-dementia-622962","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/comparative-genomics-across-species-aging-dementia-622962\/","title":{"rendered":"Comparing gene sequences across species to understand aging and dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new grant partners longevity researchers and Alzheimer\u2019s experts at Rochester to study the gene mechanisms that contribute to long and healthy lifespans. <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Whether you give a mouse a cookie, as the book title goes, or kale leaves, or hot-stone massages, they will not live longer than two to three years. But other mammals, like naked mole rats and bowhead whales, can live much longer\u2014and perhaps can teach us to follow suit.<\/p>\n

At the University of Rochester<\/a>, a new collaboration between leading longevity researchers and brain disease experts examines gene mechanisms responsible for long life, drawing on the latest findings to pursue novel interventions for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer\u2019s disease and related dementias.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s oldest naked mole rats, born during the Reagan administration, show exceptional resistance to age-related disease. Meanwhile, when degus (small Chilean rodents) develop Alzheimer\u2019s disease, it progresses in a remarkably similar manner to humans. Examining the genes of these mammals has the potential to yield insights into how humans can live longer\u2014with their cognitive faculties intact.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter how much you pamper a mouse, it will not live to 40 years as naked mole rats will,\u201d says Vera Gorbunova<\/a>, the Doris Johns Cherry Professor in the departments of biology<\/a> and of medicine<\/a>. To bridge the knowledge gap from rodents, whales, and other long-lived mammals to humans, Gorbunova tapped M. Kerry O\u2019Banion<\/a>, a professor of neuroscience<\/a> at the University of Rochester Medical Center, who has studied the pathogenesis of Alzheimer\u2019s disease for 30 years.<\/p>\n

\"Vera
\u201cBy diving into the genetics of degus and naked mole rats, we are striving to understand the basic biology of aging and disease,\u201d says Rochester biologist Vera Gorbunova. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Recognizing the research potential of this partnership, the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, recently awarded Gorbunova, O\u2019Banion, and their team of researchers a five-year grant of $18.5 million<\/a> to study the comparative genomics of longevity and Alzheimer\u2019s disease. The grant, which is headed by Gorbunova, also includes Rochester faculty members Andrei Seluanov and Hongbo Liu, along with colleagues at Harvard University, Einstein College of Medicine, Washington University, and Mount Sinai\u2019s Icahn School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

Aging, Alzheimer\u2019s, and anti-inflammation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Last year, after decades of research, Gorbunova and Seluanov successfully transferred to mice a \u201clongevity gene<\/a>\u201d they had identified in naked mole rats. This gene drives the production of a molecule called HMW-HA, which seems to play a role in cellular protection and repair. Compared to mice and humans, naked mole rats have about ten times more HMW-HA in their bodies. Mice with the longevity gene added showed improved overall health, a 4.4 percent increase in lifespan, and reduced inflammation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll disease associated with aging involves inflammation in multiple systems, including the brain,\u201d O\u2019Banion explains. \u201cMy expertise is studying inflammation\u2019s role in Alzheimer\u2019s, and their research into identifying inflammation pathways creates a natural cohesion between my work and Vera\u2019s team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The partnership across campuses harnesses the University\u2019s longstanding strengths in advancing understanding of the human brain and translating this knowledge into clinical breakthroughs for neurological disorders, including Alzheimer\u2019s disease and paralysis. In addition, students working with researchers, including several in the MD\/PhD program for medical scientist training<\/a>, have the opportunity to advance findings with real-world impact for their parents and grandparents.<\/p>\n

\"Kerry
Says Kerry O\u2019Banion, \u201cThis grant exemplifies the genuine connectedness and transdisciplinary approach\u201d to research at Rochester. (University of Rochester photo \/ Matt Wittmeyer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As an earlier outcome of their interactions, O\u2019Banion and Gorbunova co-direct a training grant from NIA for graduate students in various disciplines\u2014such as biology, neuroscience, and pharmacology\/physiology\u2014to explore the intersection of aging and Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach student in this grant-funded program brings their own perspectives, experiences, and ways of thinking to our common research goals,\u201d O\u2019Banion says.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Banion\u2019s career at Rochester equals the lifespan of a naked mole rat\u2014a professional longevity that suits him. \u201cOne reason I\u2019ve stayed all this time at Rochester is the opportunity to pursue collaborations like these,\u201d he says. \u201cThis grant exemplifies the genuine connectedness and transdisciplinary approach here: the questions people bring, the spirit with which they are welcomed, and the willingness to work together to solve them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u2018thrill\u2019 of discovery<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cAlthough we focus on Alzheimer\u2019s,\u201d says Gorbunova, \u201cthe grant is broader than that. By diving into the genetics of degus and naked mole rats, we are striving to understand the basic biology of aging and disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

With shared interests in comparative biology, the researchers express hope for discovery science that extends human health spans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am optimistic for the potential to find interventions that might benefit Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia patients,\u201d says O\u2019Banion. \u201cIf we can slow down inflammation or DNA damage, by taking cues from mammals that seem to have tackled those problems, there may be specific mechanisms that become targets for therapeutic treatment. That is the thrill of endeavors like these: in the long stretches of science, finding something new and unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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