In addition to the work of our Research Center SENS Foundation conducts key, extra-mural research through a variety of affiliated universities and research organizations.
Recent news and updates
Proving the Principle
August 4, 2010 by Rob OCallahan from Clearing cells of age-related wastes
I am working on a new experiment with nonspecific peroxidase enzymes and ALE-modified proteins. I am reacting BSA with malondialdehyde (MDA) to modify it with fluorescent crosslinks, which I can measure using ELISA. I will then react common, non-specific enzymes like horseradish peroxidase (HRP) with the modified BSA and measure if any of the crosslink was degraded. If I can show that an enzyme like HRP is able to access ALE modifications on a protein surface, this would show some promise for using enzymes to degrade damaged proteins in vivo.
LysoSENS Progress and Prospects
August 3, 2010 by Jacques Mathieu from Clearing cells of age-related wastes
The 7KC-degrading bacterium I’ve been studying, Rhodococcus jostii RHA1, has two large gene clusters that are up-regulated by 7KC, but not cholesterol. In these two gene clusters lie a number of enzymes we believe are involved in 7KC degradation, including an enzyme that could reduce the 7-keto group to a hydroxyl. What makes this interesting to us is that while 7KC is highly cytotoxic, 7α-hydroxycholesterol (7αOH) is relatively harmless. So I am now methodically going through suspected candidates, searching for reductase activity against 7KC.
Introducing Jacques
March 16, 2010 by Jacques Mathieu from Clearing cells of age-related wastes
It was early 2005 when I first read about SENS. I had already applied to several graduate schools at that time and was waiting to hear back, but as I delved into that article in Popular Science I knew this was something I wanted to be involved in. A lot of people were studying aging, but no one had a plan like this. I emailed Aubrey and it wasn't long before I was headed to Rice University in Houston; first to perform some preliminary research into the LysoSENS project, and then to begin a PhD studying microbial oxysterol degradation.
Welcome to the extra-mural program homepage.
March 16, 2010 by Ben Zealley from Extra-mural Research
In addition to the core work conducted at our own Research Center, SENS Foundation has always supported projects hosted at world-class academic labs around the world. Our extra-mural program allows us to leverage the unique skills, knowledge, and assets of our collaborators to achieve critical breakthroughs in regenerative medicine.




