Investigators in this area seek to unravel the mechanisms that underlie premature aging driven by DNA damage, investigate the relationship to normal aging, explore potential interventions, and translate findings of genome maintenance as a key factor in determining healthy life span in humans.
Studies encompass investigation of DNA damage-based mechanisms of premature or abnormal aging using mouse models as well as mouse and human cell cultures, and development of new experimental interventions to slow this damage (Hoeijmakers, Vijg, Campisi, Hasty). Researchers in this Program will develop sets of blood-based biomarkers for premature aging in the mouse, which will be validated in normally aging mice and in a cohort of human subjects.
Dr. Suh studies the role of genome maintenance as a pro-longevity system in humans by utilizing genetic association and functional genomic analyses obtained from participants in the Mechanisms and Strategies to Prevent the Metabolic Syndrome of Aging project.
