KU News Release

KU research on aging receives $7.5 million grant extension

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas researchers are hoping to better understand what happens in the muscles and brain during the aging process. The goal of the research is to discover how to slow or even reverse the aging process.

The National Institutes of Health has given KU $7.5 million for a five-year period. This is the second NIH extension of the project titled “Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in Aging.” That’s an unusually long funding commitment for this type of project, said project head Elias Michaelis, a University Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology and director of KU’s Higuchi Biosciences Center.

“This is a large, interdisciplinary research project,” Michaelis said. “They often run five to 10 years, so the NIH extending funding through year 15 is very significant.”

Oxidation of tissue cells occurs naturally as people age. KU researchers are studying how proteins found in cells become oxidized and how the oxidation affects the proteins.
Michaelis said the study could isolate a mechanism that causes oxidation of proteins in tissues. The research could lead treatment for aging based on reducing the rate of oxidation in muscles and the brain.

The renewal project includes three subprojects. One is led by Michaelis. The others are led by Christian Schöneich, professor and chair of pharmaceutical chemistry, and Mary Michaelis, professor of pharmacology and toxicology. Their work is supported by two scientific core groups. One is led by Todd Williams, director of KU’s Mass Spectrometry Laboratory. The other is led by Mary Michaelis in collaboration with Dianne Durham, professor of otolaryngology at the KU Medical Center.

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