Accelerated Aging—Studies had suggested that severe damage to DNA molecules may cause cells to age faster, but no evidence had directly linked the two events. Now, Dr. Jan Vijg and colleagues have shown in a mouse model that clean breaks in DNA strands are sufficient to initiate and accelerate classical symptoms of aging. The study published on April 10, 2015 in Nature Communications. The researchers suggest that DNA damage over the course of a lifetime or during disease treatment, such as chemotherapy for cancer, can act as one of the main drivers of age-related pathologies. Dr. Vijg is professor and chair of genetics and professor of ophthalmology & visual sciences. He also serves as the Lola and Saul Kramer Chair in Molecular Genetics. First and co-corresponding author on the paper was Ryan White, a Ph.D. candidate in the Vijg laboratory.
Posted on: Thursday, August 20, 2015