The telomeric caps at the ends of chromosomes are essential for maintaining the integrity of eukaryotic genomes. Two processes must be fully operational in order to prevent telomere dysfunction: chromosome ends need to be fully replicated and these termini also need to be protected from the activities that normally act on DNA strand breaks. The...

During the last year we made a surprising discovery that could lead to a new approach to developing a therapeutic drug to treat Alzheimer's disease. We plan to follow up on this discovery to elucidate the molecular mechanism of Alzheimer's disease in order to develop new molecular targets for drug development.

There is emerging evidence...

While aging has long been recognized as an interesting phenomenon, it is only recently that it has become the subject of genetic analysis. This principally derives from the observation that single gene mutations in yeast, worms, flies and mice can markedly increase the life span of these organisms.

Which gene networks function to...

Changes in gene activity are part of the cellular aging process, however, the mechanisms that cause age-related alterations in gene expression are poorly understood. We have recently discovered that nuclear pore complexes (NPCs), essential multiprotein channels that mediate molecular trafficking between the nucleoplasm and cytoplasm of eukaryotic...