New anti-aging research conducted by the Biodesign Institute may lead to longevity for future generations.
A research team at the Institute is working with medical bioremediation, which deals with cleaning toxins from the body and fighting diseases with enzymes from bacteria in order to slow aging, said John Schloendorn, a molecular and cellular biology doctoral candidate who has worked on the project since November 2005.
“Basically just wanting to do something with aging [got me interested in the project], because falling apart is unacceptable,” Schloendorn said.
The research project is a partnership between the Biodesign Institute’s Center for Environmental Biotechnology and the Methuselah Foundation, which does research to extend the human life.
“The whole agenda is to repair the damage that aging does to our bodies,” Schloendorn said. “The particular part is molecular junk accumulating in the body.”
That “molecular junk “needs to be removed from the body without destroying cells or the body, Scholendorn said.
Some age-related problems that the research targets include Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, macular degeneration and diabetes, Schloendorn said.
Bruce Rittmann, the director of the center, said he has worked on environmental bioremediation since his days as a doctoral student in the 1970s.
Rittmann said medical bioremediation “seems a completely reasonable idea, at least in principle,” and decided to allow the research in his lab.
The partnership with the Methuselah Foundation began in November 2005, Schloendorn said.
The foundation is headed by Aubrey de Grey, the chairman and chief science officer, who also created the concept of medical bioremediation.
“The reason to partner with Biodesign was that we wanted to partner with Bruce Rittmann, who is a world leader in bioremediation,” Grey said in an e-mail.
The center uses the concepts of environmental bioremediation, which focuses on degrading contaminants in the environment in order to succeed at medical bioremediation, which concentrates on removing harmful materials from the body that cause aging, Rittmann said.
In environmental bioremediation, “we use living organisms to do the job,” Rittmann said. “In medical bioremediation, we use only one or two enzymes,”
Schloendorn’s research currently fixates on macular degeneration.
“Age-related macular degeneration is thought to result from the accumulation of intracellular junk in Retinal Pigment Epithelial cells,” Schloendorn said.
A2E, a breakdown product that derives from vitamin A, is a common junk molecule present in the epithelial cells, Schloendorn said.
Macular degeneration, a disease that kills retina cells in the back of the eye, can result in the loss of eyesight due to old age and junk accumulation in specific cells, Schloendorn said.
Currently, the research team has found six enzymes that deteriorate A2E, a junk molecule, Schloendorn said.
Five enzymes came from various fungi and one came from a flower, Schloendorn said.
Another main target of the research is atherosclerosis, which causes most heart attacks and strokes, Schloendorn said.
0“Almost nobody is exempt from the disease — as with most aging diseases, the question is not whether you get it, but whether something else gets you first,” Schloendorn said.
The presence of contaminants, like 7-ketocholesterol, are the cause of atherosclerosis, Schloendorn said.
“This continuous presence of [toxins], such as 7-ketocholesterol, may be preventing the clearance of arterial cholesterol,” Schloendorn said.
The research team found one enzyme that degrades 7-ketocholesterol from a donated soil sample, Schloendorn said.
There is still more research to come, since for now “we’re in the discovery stage, looking for enzymes,” Rittmann said.
David Jackemeyer, a bioengineering junior, helps in the lab as a volunteer.
“I’m using environmental bioremediation to discover useful enzymes for use in medical research,” Jackemeyer said.
Lindsey Sherman, a future graduate student with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, volunteers in the lab as well.
“I use different kits and machines to extract DNA from microorganisms living in the soil samples we obtain,” Sherman said.
Both help Schloendorn in the lab with the research, including trying to reduce wrinkling from old age.
“Basically, there are enzymes that might be able to break down cross links that cause the wrinkles [in skin],” Jackemeyer said.
The stiffer the skin is, the more likely it is to wrinkle, Jackemeyer said.
“I’ve been interested in healthful life extension for many years, and working in the lab was a great opportunity to finally contribute to longevity medicine,” Sherman said.
Reach the reporter at reweaver@asu.edu.
