SFB 1506:  Aging at Interfaces

• Subject Area: Medicine ; Biology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 450627322

Aging-related diseases which together contribute to age-associated elevated morbidity and mortality. Though of major and critical relevance for understanding aging, how aging “spreads” from the molecular and cellular level to affect whole organs and organisms is still not very well understood.Cellular and molecular interfaces connect functional and structural units in biological systems. They represent modules of communication between proteins, cells, tissues and organs, and at which decisions are initiated and information is passed on. Synapses or the stem-cell niche interface are examples of such interfaces. Interfaces are therefore primary regulatory hubs of multicellular organisms. Dysregulated interfaces contribute to the loss of cellular and molecular homeostasis. We hypothesize that aging-related tissue decay as well as aging-related diseases are a result of changes in both the quality and quantity of the interactions at interfaces. Such changes may be: i) protein misfolding that modulate interactions with other proteins, ii) one affected cell influencing its surrounding cells and/or iii) an aging phenotype of one tissue being conferred to another tissue. In depth knowledge on changes at interfaces will be critical to decode underlying mechanisms as well as the hierarchical order of aging in complex organisms such as mice and humans. Most importantly, novel insights might allow for the identification of novel targets for the development of therapeutic strategies. Projects within the CRC will focus on vertebrate model systems, primary human cells/tissues and a cohort of healthy elderly subjects. Aging research is in the process of moving towards a novel transition point for translation: the development of anti-aging strategies based on results from basic research. Data and knowledge generated in this CRC will contribute to this transition.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• International Connection: Israel

Current projects

• A01 - Synaptic aging as a “physiological synaptopathy” (Project Heads Böckers, Tobias ;  Catanese, Ph.D., Alberto )
• A02 - Activity-dependent neuronal Ca2+ signaling and its role in aging and Parkinson’s disease (Project Head Liss, Birgit )
• A03 - Interaction between protein aggregation, age and exposure time to misfolded proteins (Project Head Danzer, Karin )
• A04 - The effects of aging on glial cells of the brain: implications for physiological functions (Project Head Dimou, Leda )
• A05 - Notch/NF-KB crosstalk at the aging synapse: Role of inflammaging on cognitive decline (Project Heads Baumann, Bernd ;  Oswald, Franz )
• A06 - Loss of translational accuracy in aging and aging-associated disease (Project Head Iben, Sebastian )
• B01 - Mechanisms of aging and rejuvenation of human hematopoietic stem cells (Project Heads Geiger, Hartmut ;  Mulaw, Ph.D., Medhanie )
• B03 - Aging at the interface of DNA damage and inflammatory response: Specific impact of the sex (Project Heads Rall-Scharpf, Melanie ;  Wiesmüller, Elisabeth Maria )
• B04 - Clearance of Senescent Cells by Rejuvenation of the Aged Immune System (Project Heads Krizhanovsky, Ph.D., Valery ;  Schirmbeck, Reinhold )
• B05 - The role of autoantibody diversity in physiological homeostasis during aging (Project Head Jumaa, Hassan )
• B06 - Computational Modeling of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Aging (Project Heads Geiger, Hartmut ;  Kestler, Hans A. )
• C01 - Interplay between HIV and amyloids in human aging (Project Head Kirchhoff, Frank )
• C02 - Fibroblast Senescence Drives Connective Tissue and Organ Aging (Project Head Scharffetter-Kochanek, Karin )
• C03 - Aging at the Interface of HIV and Transposable Elements (Project Head Sauter, Daniel )
• C04 - The interface of regeneration and aging: zebrafish regeneration requires elevated anti-aging mechanisms (Project Head Weidinger, Gilbert )
• C05 - Modulation of the macrophage/adipocyte interface in age-related insulin resistance by the Glucocorticoid Receptor (Project Heads Gebhardt, Christof ;  Tuckermann, Jan )
• C06 - Epigenetic clocks, blood-based biomarkers and functional parameters for the estimation of biological age (Project Heads Dallmeier, Ph.D., Dhayana ;  Rothenbacher, Dietrich ;  Wagner, Wolfgang )
• Z01 - Administrative Core: Central Tasks of the CRC (Project Head Geiger, Hartmut )
• Z02 - Tissues and animals for aging research – an interdisciplinary approach (Project Heads Dallmeier, Ph.D., Dhayana ;  Denkinger, Michael ;  Geiger, Hartmut ;  Liebold, Andreas ;  Rothenbacher, Dietrich ;  Scharffetter-Kochanek, Karin ;  Schrezenmeier, Hubert )

• Applicant Institution: Universität Ulm
• Participating Institution: Agaplesion Bethesda ; Klinik Ulm gGmbH; Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE); Standort Ulm; Weizmann Institute of Science
• Participating University: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Hartmut Geiger