# Interventions that Retard Mammalian Aging

> **NIH NIH U01** · JACKSON LABORATORY · 2021 · $121,763

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – from funded parent award
Identification of small molecules that extend mouse lifespan provides new insights into mechanisms of
longevity determination in mammals, and may lay the groundwork for eventual anti-aging therapies in humans.
The NIA Interventions Testing Program (ITP) evaluates agents proposed to extend mouse lifespan by retarding
aging or postponing late life diseases. Interventions proposed by multiple collaborating scientists from the
research community are tested, in parallel, at three sites (The Jackson Laboratory, University of Michigan and
University of Texas), using identical, standardized protocols. Sufficient numbers of genetically heterogeneous
mice are used to provide 80% power for detecting a 10% change in lifespan of either sex, after pooling data
from any two of the test sites. Seventy-two such lifespan experiments, involving various doses of 44 distinct
agents, have been initiated in the first fifteen years of the ITP. Thirty-seven experiments have involved
comparative tests of multiple doses of effective agents, variable starting ages, or alternative dosing schedules.
Significant effects on longevity, in one or both sexes, have been documented and then confirmed for NDGA,
rapamycin, acarbose, and 17-α-estradiol (17aE2), with significant (but currently unconfirmed) effects also
noted for Protandim, glycine and, in an interim analysis, canagliflozin. Lifespan trials are now underway for 18
new agents. ITP survival results have also documented longevity benefits from three agents started in middle-
age: rapamycin, acarbose, and 17aE2. The previous five-year period has introduced three new features to the
ITP: 1) increased emphasis on health outcomes (functional tests relevant to human health not necessarily
linked to lifespan); 2) a Collaborative Interactions Program to provide tissues from ITP drug-treated mice to a
growing, international network of scientific collaborators; and, 3) a publicly accessible data repository and
display engine hosted by the Mouse Phenome Database at The Jackson Laboratory. Plans for the next five-
year period include additional lifespan ("Stage I") trials, detailed analyses ("Stage II") of agents found to
increase lifespan, continued growth in data on health outcomes, and collaborative work with scientists to study
drug effects on postulated aging mechanisms and links to disease. Studies at The Jackson Laboratory will
follow a wide variety of health outcomes measured with minimal stress, add more cognitive function tests, add
longitudinal analyses, and study successful interventions in mouse models of aging diseases such as diabetes
and dementia. The work proposed should allow the ITP to continue to make major contributions to mammalian
aging biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10201056
- **Project number:** 3U01AG022308-18S1
- **Recipient organization:** JACKSON LABORATORY
- **Principal Investigator:** DAVID E HARRISON
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $121,763
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2003-04-15 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10201056

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10201056, Interventions that Retard Mammalian Aging (3U01AG022308-18S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10201056. Licensed CC0.

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