Molecular genetics of aging in drosophila

衰老是一个基本的生物过程，可以定义，测量，描述和操纵。然而，衰老机制的复杂细节仍不清楚。衰老的特征可能是某些稳态的丧失，但它与基因表达调节的普遍下降无关。即使在生物性能普遍下降的老年，基因表达也得到了很好的调节。随着年龄的增长，许多基因的RNA水平有显着的年龄特异性变化。最后，大多数长寿突变体涉及最终调节基因表达的信号通路。这些观察结果指出了年龄增长和基因表达之间的联系，并提出了基因表达变化是衰老的原因还是结果的问题。基因表达变化的表征无法区分这两种选择。我的实验室旨在通过操纵年龄依赖性基因表达并检查对衰老过程的影响来解决这个问题。

Aging is a fundamental biological process that can be defined, measured, described and manipulated. However, the complex details of aging mechanisms remain unclear. Aging may be characterized by the loss of some kinds of homeostasis, but it is not associated with a pervasive decline of regulation of gene expression. Gene expression is well regulated even at older ages when biological performance is generally diminished. Many genes have significant age-specific changes in their RNA levels with increasing age. Finally most long-lived mutants implicate signaling pathways that ultimately regulate gene expression. These observations point to a link between progression of age and genetic expression and raise the question of whether gene expression changes are a cause or a consequence of aging. The characterization of changes in gene expression cannot distinguish between these two alternatives. My lab aims to address this question by manipulating age-dependent gene expression and examining the consequences on the aging process.