Inter-university programme will examine the role of circadian rhythms in ageing

The CircadiAgeing Research programme has been awarded £4.4million by the BBSRC.

Circadian rhythms are the internal 24-hour body clock that is fundamental for life and are observed from fruit flies to humans. However, as we age the rhythms become weaker leading to poorer sleep.

The new research programme called CircardiAgeing will investigate the role of circadian rhythms in healthy ageing. Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) for £4.4million, the programme will support multidisciplinary bioscience research at Imperial College London and several other universities.

Dr Marco Brancaccio, Lecturer in Dementia Research and UK DRI Group Leader at Imperial College London will oversee the part of the programme focusing on the role of glial senescence pathways in age-dependent disruption of the sleep-wake cycle.

"The BBSRC sLOLA CircadiAgeing program will give us the unique opportunity to investigate this fundamental question across different species and by using several experimental techniques, for several years to come." Dr Marco Brancaccio Department of Brain Sciences

Dr Brancaccio said: “I am excited to be part of a multi-disciplinary team of world-leading researchers in chronobiology and neuroscience investigating the relationship between circadian disruption and ageing.

"The BBSRC sLOLA CircadiAgeing program will give us the unique opportunity to investigate this fundamental question across different species and by using several experimental techniques, for several years to come. This will hopefully provide generalisable insights that are not easily achievable by any single group on their own.”

Investigating the sleep-wake cycle

Circadian rhythms are determined by a group of genes that are termed the molecular clock. These genes control the circadian expression of a second group of genes, the membrane clock, which encodes ion channels/receptors that drive changes in electrical activity. While the molecular clock is well understood, there has been little research on the membrane clock.

The CircadiAgeing programme aims to decipher the conserved components and mechanism of the membrane clock. The programme will look at the relationship between the molecular and membrane clocks, the effect of ageing, and whether interventions to reverse the effect of ageing on these clocks can rejuvenate circadian rhythms and extend healthy ageing. Deciphering the membrane clock is crucial because the membrane clock is made up of channels and receptors, which are candidates for drug targets.

CircadiAgeing will take a holistic approach to understand how the circadian clocks work at the molecular, cellular, systemic and behavioural levels across the life course. The programme uses a unique interdisciplinary approach based on prior work and world-leading expertise in animal models and frontier bioscience tool development. 

The programme, funded for 60 months, is a collaboration between Professor James Hodge (University of Bristol), Dr Mino Belle (University of Manchester), Dr Marco Brancaccio (UK Dementia Research Institute at Imperial College London), Professor Hugh Piggins (University of Bristol), Professor Krasi Tsaneva-Atananova (University of Exeter), and Dr Alessio Vagnoni (King's College London).

Adapted from a news story on the King’s College London website.