# Molecular Regulation of Stem Cell Aging

> **NIH NIH P01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $696,839

## Abstract

SUMMARY
 The loss of tissue homeostasis and regenerative capacity with age underlies some of the most
challenging health issues in the elderly. A major contributor to age-related decline in the structure and
function of many tissues is the loss of stem cell function that occurs during the aging process. To be
able slow, arrest, or even reverse those age-related declines in stem cell function holds would
represent a major therapeutic advance in the growing field of regenerative medicine.
 The primary focus of this Program is to understand the molecular basis of age-related changes in
stem cell function with the underlying premise that such an understanding is likely to reveal ways to
target those changes in order to enhance aged stem cell function. Based largely on the work from the
laboratories of this Program, there is increasing evidence of profound epigenetic changes that occur in
stem cells as they age and that underlie many functional changes. A central conceptual theme that is
woven throughout the proposal is the notion that these changes are not only mediators of cellular
function but are amenable to being restored to a more youthful state through the process we call
“epigenetic rejuvenation”. In addition, we explore how the epigenetic changes confer upon stem cells
the characteristics that may be responsible for selection of subsets of cells across the lifespan by an
ever changing adaptive landscape and result in a population of distinct stem cells in the aged milieu.
 To examine those concepts experimentally, this Program includes three Projects that focus on
somatic stem cells from three different tissues that differ in terms of their homeostatic turnover and
regenerative capacity – blood (high turnover, highly regenerative), muscle (low turnover, highly
regenerative), and brain (low homeostatic, minimally regenerative). The Projects are integrated in their
shared approaches to understanding the epigenetics of stem cell aging using cutting-edge
technologies, including single cell transcriptome and epigenome analysis, modified CRISPR/cas9
technology for locus-specific epigenetic modifications, and in vivo lineage studies to explore the
dynamics of stem cell populations during aging. These Projects are supported by three essential Cores
– an Administrative Core to facilitate the interactions among the laboratories, a “Rejuvenation
Strategies” Core for our shared animal studies to explore epigenetic rejuvenation, and a Bioinformatics
Core to serve as the essential hub for storing, processing, visualizing, analyzing, and sharing data from
the three Projects. Overall, the investigators who are Project Leaders and Core Directors are
internationally recognized experts in these areas and bring to the Program the full breadth of expertise,
creativity, and records of accomplishment to assure an integrated, innovative, and highly successful
Program to explore the molecular mechanisms of stem cell aging.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10174625
- **Project number:** 5P01AG036695-10
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** THOMAS A. RANDO
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $696,839
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2011-07-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10174625

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10174625, Molecular Regulation of Stem Cell Aging (5P01AG036695-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10174625. Licensed CC0.

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