What governs how fast we age? Why do some biological processes stop working earlier than others? And what is happening at the molecular and cellular level as some organisms age while others continue to thrive?
Although seemingly philosophical in nature, these questions address one of the major mysteries of biology, the process of aging. With recent developments in genetics, molecular biology, and genomics, we now have the possibility of addressing these questions at the molecular level. Because our ultimate goal is not simply to extend lifespan, but to improve overall health, we must identify the genes associated with biological functions that we typically associate with quality of life. The goal of our laboratory's work is to understand the molecular mechanisms governing longevity and maintenance of the biological processes that exhibit age-related decline.
Recent Publications
Insulin/insulin-like growth factor signalling (IIS) is a critical regulator of an organism's most important biological decisions from growth, development, and metabolism to reproduction and longevity. It primarily does so through the activity of the DAF-16 transcription factor (forkhead box O (FOXO) homologue), whose global targets were…
A new study in C. elegans identifies a microRNA-dependent mechanism that enables olfactory neurons to rapidly regulate protein degradation in the intestine and therefore organismal ageing.
The biology and behavior of adults differ substantially from those of developing animals, and cell-specific information is critical for deciphering the biology of multicellular animals. Thus, adult tissue-specific transcriptomic data are critical for understanding molecular mechanisms that control their phenotypes. We used adult cell-specific…
Aging is characterized by general physiological decline over time. A hallmark of human senescence is the onset of various age-related afflictions including neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Although environmental and stochastic factors undoubtedly contribute to the increased incidence of disease with age, recent studies…
The memory of experiences and learned information is critical for organisms to make choices that aid their survival. C. elegans navigates its environment through neuron-specific detection of food and chemical odors, and can associate nutritive states with chemical odors, temperature, and the pathogenicity of a food source. Here, we describe…
Of all the age-related declines, memory loss is one of the most devastating. While conditions that increase longevity have been identified, the effects of these longevity-promoting factors on learning and memory are unknown. Here we show that the C. elegans Insulin/IGF-1 receptor mutant daf-2 improves memory performance early in adulthood and…
Contact information
Carl Icahn Lab 140
Princeton University
Princeton NJ, 08540
Lab phone: 609-258–9505