Identification of aging genes through large-scale analysis
AssigneeUniversity of Washington
InventorsBrian K. Kennedy, Matthew R. Kaeberlein
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Abstract
High throughput methods for screening genetic variants that are phenotypically distinguishable are provided. Methods for identifying “long-lived” genetic variants among a set of variants are also provided. Methods for identifying pharmaceutical compounds that can promote longevity in various subjects, including mammals, and that can delay the onset of various diseases associated with aging are also provided. Various vectors and host cells containing identified genes/gene products are useful for screening longevity-promoting compounds that can interact with life-span-regulating genes/gene products. Pharmaceutical compositions that can promote longevity are also provided.
Claims10
A high throughput method for screening a genetic variant for a long-lived phenotype of interest, the method comprising:
- providing a set of unknown genetic variants,
- iteratively, for each genetic variant in the set of genetic variants;
- selecting a number N of cells for the genetic variant;
- quantitatively measuring replicative life span (RLS) for each of the N cells of the genetic variant and determining the mean replicative life span of the N cells;
- and
- classifying the genetic variant as positive, negative, or ambiguous for a long-lived phenotype of interest, wherein the variant is positive if the mean RLS value exceeds a positive threshold value, negative if the mean RLS value is below a negative threshold value, and ambiguous if the mean RLS value is neither above the positive threshold value nor below the negative threshold value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.