Reversal of age-related mitochondrial damage in the C. elegans germline
Cells, like individuals, show signs of aging. As cells age, proteins cluster into non-functional aggregates, DNA damage increases, and organelles, such as the mitochondria that power the cell, become defective. Dr. Bohnert is asking whether age-related cellular damage can ever be reversed. His lab will investigate this question by studying reproduction, because age is naturally reset across generations. People have children when they are 30-, 40-, even 50-years-old, but they do not pass their age down to their children; babies are born young. There must be something special about reproductive cells that reverses age across generations. In this study, his lab is testing whether female reproductive cells (oocytes) have ways to erase mitochondrial damage before fertilization occurs. In theory, this could help to “clean the slate” as each generation is made. They are developing fluorescent reporters to visualize mitochondrial destruction in live oocytes. They are also examining whether this clean-up may fail in old mothers, possibly driving infertility.
