# Systems variation underlying the genetics of aging

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF OREGON · 2021 · $491,003

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Aging is currently the most important correlate of chronic illness in the United States. A fundamental question
is whether aging is itself causal of disease or if aging is the result of generalized accumulation of failures
among the many complex systems that underlie normal function, with the diseases associated with old age
simply being the most extreme form of this failure. From a systems biology perspective, this question can be
phrased as whether the degradation in complex functional regulatory networks associated with aging is caused
by a limited set of central components/nodes or whether aging-associated decline is generated by
heterogeneous failure across the entire network which then leads to an inevitable crossing of a critical frailty
threshold. We aim to test these hypotheses using a comprehensive network analysis of age-specific changes
in gene expression and protein abundance using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system.
Specifically, we aim to (1) determine age-specific changes in the gene regulatory network at a cellular
resolution, defining subcomponents that are specifically correlated with lifespan and central
healthspan measures, (2) use natural genetic variation to systematically perturb the age-specific
regulatory network in order to determine the regulatory structure and causal connections within the
network, and (3) test functional hypotheses about the emergent structure of the age-specific regulatory
network and relate network properties to individual variation in longevity, using knockouts and over-
expression constructs. Our approach has three unique elements. First, we use microfluidic techniques to
image gene expression reporters at a cellular and sub-cellular level of resolution, allowing our network
approaches to be tissue specific. Because this approach is high-throughput and nondestructive, these imaging
experiments will also inform the temporal dynamics of the networks. Second, we use natural genetic variation
coupled with whole genome sequencing to first perturb network structure and then map genetic causation,
thereby allowing directionality across the network to be established. Third, we achieve this high level of
mapping precision by conducting bulk segregant analysis (extreme QTL) on samples that have been sorted for
differential gene expression, longevity and healthspan biomarkers using custom-designed microfluidic devices.
These approaches will allow us to reconstruct the tissue-specific age-associated regulatory network, to
examine and functionally validate emergent properties of changes in network structure and function during
aging, and to couple these changes to individual variation in longevity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10174650
- **Project number:** 5R01AG056436-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
- **Principal Investigator:** Hang Lu
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $491,003
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10174650

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10174650, Systems variation underlying the genetics of aging (5R01AG056436-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10174650. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*