Cellular Cleaning to Fight Aging — The National Institute on Aging has awarded Dr. Ana Maria Cuervo a renewal grant of $2.1 million over five years, to continue studying the contribution of chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) to characteristics of aging. CMA is the process by which specific proteins within cells are targeted and broken downin lysosomes. Dr. Cuervo has previously found that CMA activity decreases with age and that its restoration in aged rodents both prevents organ deterioration and preserves function. The grant will support her efforts to better understand why and how CMA fails in aged individuals, as well as the associated consequences in various organs. CMA is a critical facet of cellular quality control and the knowledge gained from these studies will be used to identify new approaches to correct CMA defects and to treat or delay onset of age-related diseases. Dr. Cuervo is professor of developmental and molecular biology, of anatomy and structural biology, and of medicine, and is co-director of the Einstein Institute for Aging Research. She also is the Robert and Renee Belfer Chair for the Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases.
Posted on: Monday, May 20, 2013