2022

Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty


Palavicini headshot

Juan Pablo Palavicini, PhD

Assistant Professor, UT Health San Antonio

Functional lipidomics reveals a novel molecular mechanism underlying improved metabolic function and lifespan extension in remarkably long-lived mice

Lipids, major constituents of cells, play essential biological functions, serving not only as structural components of cellular membranes, major storage depots, and fuel sources, but also as important signaling molecules and cellular messengers. Taking advantage of a state-of-the-art technology, known as shotgun lipidomics, that enables the large-scale study of pathways and networks of cellular lipids in biological systems, Dr. Palavicini's laboratory has analyzed how aging alters the lipidome. Unbiased analyses point to a handful lipid classes that accumulate with age in multiple organs and animal models, including ceramides, which have been genetically associated with longevity and mechanistically linked with multiple hallmarks of aging. Remarkably, the Palavicini lab recently found that ceramides are dramatically reduced in extremely long-lived growth hormone-deficient mice. Dr. Palavicini proposes to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying ceramide deficiency in long-lived mice, and to test if ceramide deficiency is sufficient and necessary to extend mammalian lifespan.

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