Michael Petrascheck, PhD

Old age is accompanied by a deterioration of tissues and organs, increased susceptibility to disease, and an exponential increase in mortality. The last years have seen great progress in unraveling the mechanisms underlying aging. It has become clear that aging is regulated by various genetic pathways which when properly manipulated lead to increases in lifespan. These findings raise the exciting possibility that age related diseases could be treated by targeting aging pathways instead of the disease itself.

To investigate this possibility we have screened for small molecules that extend lifespan in C.elegans and mice. The power of the small molecule approach lies in its enormous flexibility. Small molecules can be tested in cell lines, various model organisms, different models of age related disease, in combination with each other, or in combination with mutations known to affect aging and lifespan. Using life-extending small molecules as probes we can now start to investigate the molecular connection between aging and age-related diseases.