Goals of this project include determining the effect of lipofuscin removal on the nematode lifespan and investigating the dynamics of lipofuscin destruction microscopically using human cell culture models. Theoretically, the elimination of lipofuscin using laser ablation methods will help return cells to a healthier state.

Principal Investigator: Nason Schooler
Funded: March 2009 to January 2010

The age pigment lipofuscin is a cellular waste byproduct of metabolism. Considered a reliable biomarker of aging, lipofuscin can be neither ejected from a cell nor degraded by the lysosomes; and accelerated accumulation of similar material is the basis of multiple congenital neurodegenerative diseases. Lipofuscin accumulation can only be reduced through cell division, and stops altogether once a cell stops dividing. By interfering with the cell's ability to recycle its parts, lipofuscin is thought to lead to the accumulation of damaged DNA, mitochondria and proteins. This, in turn, increases in oxidative damage contributing to an ongoing decline in cell, tissue and organ system function.

One method that is known to degrade lipofuscin is selective photothermolysis -- the use of laser pulses to selectively destroy pigment granules. This method has been used medically to cure age-related macular degeneration by repeatedly destroying dysfunctional retinal pigment epithelial cells and used cosmetically to remove hair, age spots and tattoos.

Research in this area, funded in large part by a grant from Immortality Institute, has been taking place at the SENS Foundation Research Center, in Sunnyvale, California, with Nason Schooler as principal investigator. Nason’s project was developed to determine the effect of laser ablation on the lifespan of a simple model organism (C. elegans), and to characterize the treatment within human cells.

Through the generous support of the Immortality Institute, and additional funding from SENS Foundation itself, definite progress has been made. SENS Foundation worked with the principal investigator to address many of the challenges which limited this progress over the life of the project – purchasing an optical table to remedy alignment instabilities, for example.

When work on the project at the Research Center came to an end, the Foundation conducted a scientific review. This covered both the project itself, and a proposal to continue with further (Foundation-funded) work. At this time the Foundation feels that the continuation of this project is not closely enough aligned with its SENS strategy to be a viable option for additional support. Although the project is no longer a component of SENS Foundation’s research portfolio, the Immortality Institute proposes to continue, working directly with Nason, to re-start this research as soon as possible and reach a successful conclusion. SENS Foundation fully supports this initiative.

SENS Foundation has offered to allocate a larger sum from its own core funding to cover the amounts spent to date on the project, effectively
reducing the amount of Immortality Institute grant funding used. This will allow the Immortality Institute to reallocate some of this grant funding
either directly, to Institute expenditure on the continuation of the project, or to a related project. SENS Foundation will also make the laser,
optics, optical table, and other equipment available on loan for any continuation of the project.

The Board of Immortality Institute is working closely with the executive of SENS Foundation to finalize these operational details.