# Biospecimen Core for Procurement of Human Somatic and Reproductive Tissues for Senescent Cell Mapping

> **NIH NIH U54** · BUCK INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON AGING · 2021 · $878,705

## Abstract

BIOSPECIMEN CORE - PROJECT SUMMARY
Senescent cells play a role in development and disease. Because the cumulative exposure to senescence
stimuli increases with time, senescent cells accumulate in aging tissues. Although senescent cells may be
protective, they can also fuel aging and pathologic conditions through gene expression changes and acquisition
of a Senescence Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP). The SASP consists of altered secretion of cytokines,
chemokines, growth factors, and proteases, which can cause chronic sterile inflammation and alter surrounding
tissue structure and function. The overarching goal of our Tissue Mapping Center, via the coordinated efforts of
the Administrative, Biospecimen, Biological Analysis, and Data Analysis Cores, is to generate a blueprint of
cellular senescence using morphometric, proteomic and transcriptomic approaches at single cell resolution in
three healthy human tissues: the ovary, breast, and skeletal muscle. The SASP will be interrogated in follicular
fluid, the associated ovarian biofluid, through advanced proteomics. Moreover, we will evaluate the systemic
SASP in matched urine and plasma samples. To this end, the Biospecimen Core will partner with Northwestern
University, the Komen Tissue Bank, and Wake Forest University for the retrospective and prospective collection
of tissues, matched fluids, and associated demographic and clinical data from consenting adults via IRB-
approved protocols and procedures. Samples will include: ovarian tissue (N=50, 42-78y), follicular fluid (N=50,
27-45y), breast biopsies (N=66, 29-66y), and skeletal muscle biopsies (N=88, balanced for young (20-30y) and
old (>70y) ages). Importantly, vastus lateralis (VL) muscle biopsies will be collected longitudinally 3 years apart
from healthy males and females, and D3 creatine urine measurements will be used to correlate cellular
senescence signatures with total body muscle mass. The Biospecimen Core will procure, curate, validate, and
distribute tissues to the Biological Analysis Core and other SenNet Tissue Mapping Centers. Mapping senescent
cells in ovary, breast, and muscle will provide the first insights into cellular senescence differences between
reproductive and somatic tissues and will elucidate ubiquitous and tissue-specific signatures of cellular
senescence. Moreover, these three tissues are relevant to aging because: 1) the ovary ages first in the human
body and is associated with a fibro-inflammatory microenvironment, 2) the breast exhibits a strong SASP with
aging and has a high fat content which often exhibits cellular senescence, and 3) skeletal muscle deterioration
is associated with sarcopenia, the most common cause of age-related frailty, with the vastus lateralis being one
of the first tissues affecting physical performance. The muscle biopsies will be obtained longitudinally, with the
interval between repeated biopsies being the longest yet attempted in molecular studies on human aging in
muscle in bo...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10376497
- **Project number:** 1U54AG075932-01
- **Recipient organization:** BUCK INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON AGING
- **Principal Investigator:** Francesca E. Duncan
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $878,705
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-30 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10376497

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10376497, Biospecimen Core for Procurement of Human Somatic and Reproductive Tissues for Senescent Cell Mapping (1U54AG075932-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10376497. Licensed CC0.

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