Dr. Daniele Bano

Aging is the progressive accumulation of damaged macromolecules and cellular structures that negatively impair tissue homeostasis. As a multifactorial biological process, aging inevitably affects organismal fitness and increases susceptibility to infectious and chronic illness, including neurodegenerative diseases. With a demographic shift toward a population with more elderly people, it becomes imperative to develop novel long-term effective strategies that help to ameliorate age-related disorders. Over the last years, exciting studies have described a wide range of pharmacological, dietary and genetic interventions that can promote longevity of multicellular organisms. Given their positive effect on health and stress resistance, the underlying lifespan-extending signaling pathways may be promising targets for treatment of age-related chronic illnesses. Our laboratory explores the interplay between epigenetics, mitochondrial function and metabolism in aging and neurodegenerative disorders. As part of our program, we focus on metabolic changes that occur in animals carrying mitochondrial lesions. Furthermore, we study those epigenetic regulators that promote transcriptional flexibility underlying lifespan-extending programs and environment-induced metabolic adaptations. Our final goal is to define the relevance of these factors in the onset and progression of neurodegenerative processes. Additionally, using genetic and pharmacological approaches, we aim to unveil molecular targets and perform proof-of-principle compound screenings with potential applications in preclinical studies.