Biological Mechanisms of Ageing

Human life expectancy has been increasing steadily since the middle of the nineteenth century. Improvements in lifestyle and health care have kept people healthier as they age, and so they are living longer. However, the downside is that age is the major risk factor for the predominant chronic and killer conditions: cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease. The major burden of ill health is hence falling on the older section of the population. The aim of our research is to discover ways of keeping people healthy for longer as they age. [more...]

Rogers, I., Kerr, F., Martinez, P., Hardy, J., Lovestone, S., and Partridge, L. (2012). Ageing Increases Vulnerability to Aβ42 Toxicity in Drosophila. PLoS ONE 7, e40569.

Slack, C., Giannakou, M.E., Foley, A., Goss, M., and Partridge, L. (2011). dFOXO-independent effects of reduced insulin-like signaling in Drosophila. Aging Cell 10, 735-748.

Alic, N., Andrews, T.D., Giannakou, M.E., Papatheodorou, I., Slack, C., Hoddinott, M.P., Cocheme, H.M., Schuster, E.F., Thornton, J.M., and Partridge, L. (2011). Genome-wide dFOXO targets and topology of the transcriptomic response to stress and insulin signalling. Mol Syst Biol 7, 502.

Bjedov, I., Toivonen, J.M., Kerr, F., Slack, C., Jacobson, J., Foley, A., and Partridge, L. (2010). Mechanisms of life span extension by rapamycin in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Cell Metab 11, 35-46.

Grandison, R.C., Piper, M.D., and Partridge, L. (2009). Amino-acid imbalance explains extension of lifespan by dietary restriction in Drosophila. Nature 462, 1061-1064.

• 2013 | DFG
  CECAD: EXC 229 - to support collaborative research
  
  
• 2011-2016 | European Research Council (ERC) FP7, Advanced Grant
  Experimental Research on Ageing
  
  
• 2011-2015 | BMBF
  GERONTOSYS - Forschungskern: SyBACol - Kölner Verbund für Systembiologie des Alterns - Teilprojekt B (joint with Adam Antebi and Bianca Habermann)
  
  
• 2011-2014 | Max Planck Society
  Toxic Protein Conformation: Ageing as a Risk Factor for Protein Toxicity in the Fruit Fly Drosophila
  
  
• 2011-2013 | MIWF NRW
  Bio.NRW: Geweberegeneration: Vom Modellorganismus zur Therapie (joint with Sabine Eming, Bayer Innovation GmbH and TaconicArtemis Pharmaceuticals GmbH)
  
  
• 2011-2012 | DFG
  CECAD: Ageing in Drosophila
  
  
• 2009-2012 | DFG
  SFB 829: Molecular mechanisms regulating skin homeostasis - Pathophysiology of skin ageing and ageing-associated ulcerative dermatitis in mice