Simone Sidoli, PhD

Accessible heterochromatin in exceptional longevity, a proteomics signature

What is aging at the molecular level? We still do not have a definitive answer, but it has been demonstrated that decrease in DNA repair efficiency, less efficient chromosome maintenance, epigenetic changes, and genomic instability, are all hallmarks of aging. Increase in disorder of DNA and DNA-interacting proteins, together named as chromatin, is the inevitable consequence of the natural increase in entropy occurring everywhere in the universe as well as within aging cells. Dr. Sidoli's lab establishes methods to investigate the composition of chromatin domains that unfold during cell stress such as aging. His lab has identified histones co-modified with silencing and active marks which recruit proteins involved in maintaining minimal spurious RNA transcription. They are now applying this technology to unveil the differences at the chromatin level between individuals undergoing "normal" aging vs long-living centenarians.