Dr. Kailiang Jia, Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences has received an NIH grant in collaboration with Matt Gill of The Scripps Research Institute. The grant entitled "The role of spin genes in autophagy and lifespan of C.elegans" is a two year R21 grant funded by The National Institute on Aging and the total award is $532,324 (the direct cost is $275,000). Autophagy, the process of cellular recycling, has emerged as a common feature of many longevity models in the nematode C.elegans. While amino acid and lipid recycling has been implicated in aging, the role of carbohydrate recycling is less well-defined. They will test the hypothesis that recycling of specific sugars, derived from degradation of glycolipids during autophagy, drives longevity in different models of lifespan extension.
