# Novel Strategy to Quantitate Delayed Aging by Caloric Restriction

> **NIH NIH R21** · SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE · 2022 · $410,886

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The parental application proposed to integrate single cell imaging, ATAC-seq, and RNA-seq data from control
diet mice and caloric restriction (CR) diet mice. These experiments will provide a large amount of
multidimensional and multimodal data that not just suited for AI/ML applications, but in fact, require AI/ML
approaches to make sense of the vast datasets. However, these datasets are coming from 3 different type of
measurements (microscopic imaging, chromatin accessibility, and gene expression) of which 2 modalities
(imaging and sequencing) are very different. At present all three data streams are handled in conventional ways
primarily using very large Excel files; this data structure / format is not suitable for AI/ML integration. Hence the
need for individual approaches to cleaning, filtering, and quality control (QC) of imaging data, ATAC-seq and
RNA-seq data. Next critical step is to structure these diverse datasets in a similar format that streamlines storage
and handling and enabling downstream integration and analyses using AI/ML algorithms. To meet these
challenges, we will implement the AnnData format, which offers a broad range of computationally efficient
features including, among others, sparse data support, Scanpy, and a PyTorch interface. To ensure that
AnnData from very different modalities (imaging, ATAC-seq, RNA-seq) could be analyzed together, we will test
run already developed computational algorithms that best suited to efficiently assimilate and combine multi-
omics data to identify key factors that drive aging. We will combine AnnData objects from imaging, ATAC-seq,
and RNA-seq using Bayesian methods for integrating multi-omics data and hyperbolic embedding with principled
criteria for choosing the best-fitting curvature and dimension. To further test the utility of the embedded data we
will test run CNN with VAEs and GAN on the ensemble of embedded data to ensure the endpoint readiness and
to obtain initial feedback from different AI/ML applications. Finally, we will establish an electronic repository for
python scripts and AnnData objects and structures for a straightforward dissemination to the broad research
community.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10594352
- **Project number:** 3R21AG075483-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** ALEXEY V TERSKIKH
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $410,886
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-02-15 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10594352

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10594352, Novel Strategy to Quantitate Delayed Aging by Caloric Restriction (3R21AG075483-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10594352. Licensed CC0.

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