Difference between revisions of "Team:UCL/Lungs"
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<h4> The side effects of metabolism produces damage to our cells which eventually leads to the functional decline (pathology) of our cells. This understanding allowed us to then investigate what actually causes the deterioration of our lung cells as we age and how we could build our synthetic biology strategy for postponing aging and thereby extending healthy lifespan. </h4> | <h4> The side effects of metabolism produces damage to our cells which eventually leads to the functional decline (pathology) of our cells. This understanding allowed us to then investigate what actually causes the deterioration of our lung cells as we age and how we could build our synthetic biology strategy for postponing aging and thereby extending healthy lifespan. </h4> | ||
| + | <h4> As our cells mitochondria produces energy in the form of ATP via oxidative phosphorylation, chemical species are released as a side product. One class of chemical species known as reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are free radicals. In small quantities, ROS act as signalling molecules and are involved in various physiological roles. However, as mentioned before ROS is toxic to the cells so they are naturally removed rapidly from the body. </h4> | ||
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| + | <h4> Many papers suggest that as we age, we accumulate higher levels of ROS which causes DNA damage, cell dysfunction, cell death which lead to the cell being stressed (Oxidative stress) eventually ageing the cell. Overproduction of ROS is also associated with pathogenesis of some age related diseases including cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, and pulmonary diseases. </h4> | ||
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| + | <h4> Because of their anatomy, location and function, the lungs are highly susceptible to oxidative damage. Increasing evidence suggests that oxidative damage of lung cells due to ageing leads to the onset of these age related disease like COPD. </h4> | ||
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Revision as of 23:09, 5 October 2016
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Lungs: Superoxide Dismutase Gene therapy
Over expression of antioxidants that break down toxic reactive oxidative species into less harmful hydrogen peroxide. Read more about our novel synthetic biology approach to the prevention of age-related diseases to the lungs.
Ageing of lungs: the problem
Vital for respiration, the lungs are responsible for keeping us alive. As we age, our lungs become less effective at carrying out their function and these age-related changes contribute somewhat to an older person's reduced ability to do vigorous exercise, especially intense aerobic exercise. More specifically, the effects of aging on the respiratory system are similar to those that occur in other systems: there is a decrease in peak airflow and gas exchange and a decline in the effectiveness of lung defence mechanisms.
It’s also known that ageing is the main risk factor for major non-communicable chronic lung diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), most forms of lung cancer and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. COPD leads to chronic inflammation and progressive destruction of lung tissues and its prevalence increases with age. Its currently a major public health problem worldwide and is the fourth leading cause of death in the world.
With a large and growing aging population, it is critical to understand how the body changes with age and how this impacts the entire respiratory system. Understanding the aging process in the lung is necessary in order to provide optimal care to our aging population. Hence Biosynthage wanted to create a therapy targeting the ageing lungs, to maximise quality of life of the ageing population and increase the healthy human lifespan by preventing the onset of these deadly age-related diseases.
Ageing Lungs: What is the cause?
In order to create a healthy ageing therapy for the lungs, we needed to understand what actually defines the ageing of a cell. We particularly liked the definition of ageing provided by Aubrey de Grey that states that:
“Aging is the set of side-effects of metabolism that alter the composition of the body over time to make it progressively less capable of self-maintenance and thereby, eventually, progressively less functional.”
The side effects of metabolism produces damage to our cells which eventually leads to the functional decline (pathology) of our cells. This understanding allowed us to then investigate what actually causes the deterioration of our lung cells as we age and how we could build our synthetic biology strategy for postponing aging and thereby extending healthy lifespan.
As our cells mitochondria produces energy in the form of ATP via oxidative phosphorylation, chemical species are released as a side product. One class of chemical species known as reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are free radicals. In small quantities, ROS act as signalling molecules and are involved in various physiological roles. However, as mentioned before ROS is toxic to the cells so they are naturally removed rapidly from the body.
Many papers suggest that as we age, we accumulate higher levels of ROS which causes DNA damage, cell dysfunction, cell death which lead to the cell being stressed (Oxidative stress) eventually ageing the cell. Overproduction of ROS is also associated with pathogenesis of some age related diseases including cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, and pulmonary diseases.
Because of their anatomy, location and function, the lungs are highly susceptible to oxidative damage. Increasing evidence suggests that oxidative damage of lung cells due to ageing leads to the onset of these age related disease like COPD.
