Adipose tissue genomic fingerprints of aging

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It has been shown that the accumulation of adipose tissue during aging is an important contributor for the development of diabetes and atherosclerosis. In addition, two independent studies found that having low amounts of adipose tissue is associated with an increased longevity. These findings are supported by the fact that calorie restriction - the only non-genetic regimen shown to increase lifespan in mammals - primarly affects energy stores in adipose tissue. Thus, adipose tissue appears to be a very important contributor of aging and age-related metabolic disorders. Despite of this, we have very little understanding of the genes in adipose tissue that are involved in the pathogenesis of age-related metabolic diseases. We propose to use the simple yet very powerful differential display technique to help discover the genes that are important in the development of age-associated disorders. The level of every single gene from the adipose tissue of young, old and calorie-restricted old rats will be measured, matched between each other, and every single difference in the level of each of these genes will be analyzed. This high-throughput method not only allows the crucial identification of genes involved in aging but also has the advantage of covering the entire genetic pool and thus often leads to the discovery of key genes unknown so far. We believe that such technical approach will help to unravel the genes and mechanisms underlying the development of age-related disorders.