Thursday, March 12, 2026 3/12/2026

Pexophagy regulation in live animals and its role in aging and longevity

Award Number: R01AG079970
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/01/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2027

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Pexophagy regulation in live animals and its role in aging and longevity - Project Summary/Abstract Aging often manifests as physiological decline at an organismal level. However, the aging process has its roots at the level of cells; changes to molecules and cellular compartments ultimately underlie physiological decline and age-related disease pathology. Clarifying cellular causes of aging has the potential to inform strategies to promote longer, healthier lives, and may also reveal unexpected elements of cell biology relevant to animal health and disease. My lab has begun analysis of a new aspect of cell biology in aging: degradation of peroxisomes by autophagy. Peroxisomes are membrane-bound eukaryotic organelles that are critical to cell health and organismal viability; they carry out essential oxidative reactions, and they also eradicate toxins. Remarkably, we have found that peroxisome degradation by autophagy (‘pexophagy’) specifically occurs in young-adult animals during early aging, signifying that this may be one of a collection of initiating events in the aging process. Indeed, using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism, we have discovered that the rate of pexophagy may scale with aging. Animals that show accelerated peroxisome degradation in early age die prematurely, whereas animals in which pexophagy is inhibited live long. Moreover, turnover of this organelle may entail unique regulation, as we have found that pexophagy during aging, as during starvation, occurs at non-canonical autophagic lysosomes, which are tubular in structure and morphologically dynamic. We are now poised to make significant advancements in understanding the regulation of pexophagy, particularly in a live-animal system, and its role in aging and longevity. In the proposed research project, we will perform unbiased genetic screens to uncover regulators and effectors of pexophagy in live animals during starvation and aging. To date, we know of only a handful of regulatory genes. An expectation is that we may identify factors involved in the signaling of this event, or adapters that potentially link peroxisomes to tubular lysosomes in these contexts. In addition, we will perform detailed analysis of gene knockdowns that we have already described to feed into the regulation of age- dependent pexophagy, with the goal of determining mechanisms that contribute to lifespan extension upon pexophagy inhibition. In sum, these studies will provide information on a previously unexplored cellular aspect of aging possibly relevant to novel longevity mechanisms.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $297,868 )
2026	2026	LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY	202 HIMES HALL	BATON ROUGE	LA	70803	EAST BATON ROUGE	USA	Aging Research	001	4	2/25/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$29,787
2026	2026	LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY	202 HIMES HALL	BATON ROUGE	LA	70803	EAST BATON ROUGE	USA	Aging Research	000	4	12/10/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$268,081
														Subtotal = $297,868

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $291,911 )
2025	2025	LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY	202 HIMES HALL	BATON ROUGE	LA	70803	EAST BATON ROUGE	USA	Aging Research	001	3	8/11/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$23,830
2025	2025	LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY	202 HIMES HALL	BATON ROUGE	LA	70803	EAST BATON ROUGE	USA	Aging Research	000	3	11/20/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$268,081
														Subtotal = $291,911

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $297,868 )
2024	2024	LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY	202 HIMES HALL	BATON ROUGE	LA	70803	EAST BATON ROUGE	USA	Aging Research	000	2	11/16/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$268,081
2024	2024	LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY	202 HIMES HALL	BATON ROUGE	LA	70803	EAST BATON ROUGE	USA	Aging Research	001	2	5/1/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$29,787
														Subtotal = $297,868

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $297,868 )
2023	2023	LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY	202 HIMES HALL	BATON ROUGE	LA	70803	EAST BATON ROUGE	USA	Aging Research	000	1	11/9/2022	NEW	$244,252
2023	2023	LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY	202 HIMES HALL	BATON ROUGE	LA	70803	EAST BATON ROUGE	USA	Aging Research	001	1	2/23/2023	NEW	$53,616
														Subtotal = $297,868

Grand Total All Awards = $1,185,515

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Pexophagy regulation in live animals and its role in aging and longevity

Award Number: R01AG079970

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/01/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2027

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer