A collaborative project involving The University of Manchester has been awarded a sizeable grant to research the role of circadian rhythms in healthy ageing.
Circadian rhythms are our internal 24-hour body clocks. These natural cycles of physiological and behavioural patterns, if disrupted, can have adverse effects on ageing and related health issues.
The project, called CircadiAgeing, will focus on understanding how both the well-known molecular clock and the less studied processes in cell membranes influence daily changes in cell activity.
Through an interdisciplinary approach using cutting-edge electrophysiology, imaging, genetic analysis and computational biology, the research team hopes to develop ways to better understand and strengthen these biological clocks, to promote healthier ageing and potentially reduce age-related disorders.
Dr Mino Belle, Senior Lecturer in the Division of Neuroscience, is a part of CircadiAgeing’s core team.
Dr Belle said: “I am excited to be part of the CircardiAgeing research programme and fantastic team of world-leading researchers in circadian biology and neuroscience.”
The programme, funded for 60 months, is a collaboration between Dr Mino Belle (University of Manchester), Dr Marco Brancaccio (UK Dementia Research Institute at Imperial College London), Professor Hugh Piggins (University of Bristol), Professor Krasi Tsaneva-Atananova (University of Exeter), and Dr Alessio Vagnoni (King’s College London). The project is led by Professor James Hodge (University of Bristol).
Professor James Hodge said: “We will take advantage of the powerful genetics and short lifespan of the fruit fly to determine the effect of age on the clock translating our finding to a nocturnal, and for the first time, a day active species of rodent using closely aligned computational models, innovative tools and protocols developed by our labs.
“We will employ, a holistic approach taking a multiple-disciplinary approach to understanding how the circadian clock works at every level across the whole life course. Finally, we will investigate evolutionary conserved interventions to rejuvenate rhythms and behaviour extending health during ageing, revealing ways to potentially allow our ageing population to continue to live well and independently.”
The funding comes from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), who have backed four groundbreaking research projects through their Strategic Longer and Larger grants scheme (sLoLa). The scheme supports innovative teams in pursuing ambitious, multidisciplinary long-term bioscience research.
