Comparative Bioenergetics of Aging

University Of Alabama At Birmingham, Birmingham AL

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Abstract

Comparative Bioenergetics of Aging (Overall) Project Summary Aging and energetics are inextricably intertwined. That simple, inescapable fact has been clear since the earliest discoveries that long-lived mammal species typically expend cellular energy at a slower rate than short-lived species, that the longevity of poikilothermic animals was inversely related to environmental temperature, hence metabolic rate, that reduced food intake extended life and health in numerous species, and that physical activity was health- and longevity-promoting. Knowledge about the intricate relation between energy flux and aging continues to accumulate. At the organismal level in recent years, for instance, it was discovered that patterns of primate longevity are linked to 24 hour metabolism, that human fat-free mass-adjusted energy expenditure remains constant between ages 20 and 60, and that we had been seriously underestimating the energetic cost of mammalian reproduction, which alters our understanding of the evolution of health and longevity. At a cellular level, we are gaining greater appreciation for the heterogeneity of mitochondrial function, depending on metabolic demand, spatial location in the cell, and cell type among other things. Cellular processes also must be integrated and coordinated across organ systems in response to environmental conditions to ultimately determine how energetics affect health, diseases, and longevity which is the theme of this Nathan Shock Center (NSC). The UAB NSC has taken advantage of its unique strengths in comparative biology of aging, world-class expertise in cellular and tissue bioenergetics, similar expertise in the dissection of whole animal energetics, an exceptionally innovative and adept data analytics core to offer the most comprehensive, integrated energetic assessment and analysis available anywhere from the level of cells to organisms and across species from the size of worms to rats. In this renewal application, the scientific goals of the Center remain to (a) assist emerging scholars in further exploring the complex quantitative links between cellular and organismal energetics, health, and longevity and generalize their findings by model species comparisons, and (b) provide expertise, state-of-the-art instrumentation, and methodologies in comparative energetics analysis to investigators inside and outside of UAB. To achieve these goals, the Center will undertake these specific aims: (1) provide an integrated Center for research, training, and outreach in comparative energetics of geroscience, specifically to facilitate the study of the relationship between energetics from cells to organisms and later life health and longevity. Our three Research Cores are synergistically organized to offer the most comprehensive assessment and analysis of energetics from cells to organisms available anywhere; (2) provide a rich intellectual environment focused on comparative energetics, health, and aging that will foster productive interactions and collaborations among both internal and external investigators from basic aging biology and allied health- and disease-related sub-disciplines; (3) offer assistance, resources, training, and support for new and emerging investigators from allied health- and disease- related sub-disciplines interested in participating in the exciting field of geroscience.