Autophagy in Aging and Age-related Diseases

Scientific objectives:

The Autophagy in Aging and Age-Related Disease team studies how autophagy contributes to the maintenance of tissue homeostasis and organismal resilience during aging. Autophagy is a fundamental cellular process essential for quality control and stress responses, whose deregulation is increasingly recognized as a central feature of aging and age-related diseases.

Using in vivo genetic models that allow controlled enhancement of autophagy, the team aims to understand how autophagy supports healthy aging, coordinates systemic responses across tissues, and influences vulnerability to age-related functional decline.

Research axes

Axis 1 – Autophagy and regulation of aging at the tissue level
We investigate how autophagy contributes to the preservation of tissue homeostasis during aging, aiming to define how tissue-specific modulation of autophagy influences functional decline, stress resistance, and healthspan.

Axis 2 – Systemic and inter-organ effects of autophagy during aging
Beyond its cell-autonomous functions, we explore how autophagy impacts inter-organ communication and organism-wide adaptation during aging, including the contribution of inter-tissue signaling and metabolic adaptations to the coordination of aging processes across tissues.

Axis 3 – Autophagy and vulnerability to age-related diseases
We examine how autophagy influences age-associated degenerative diseases with a particular interest in understanding mechanisms that preserve mobility and physical function over the lifespan.