Cell-type-specific omics to understand cellular recycling in ageing

One pertinent question in ageing research pertains to keeping extracellular fluids in optimal homeostatic conditions during longevity. To achieve this, it seems that long-lived organisms rely on superior functioning of dedicated endocytic cells, but there is virtually no knowledge on how these cells and their recycling capacities alter over ageing.

In C. elegans, a popular model organism for ageing research, two different interventions leading to longevity are also known to rely on dedicated endocytic cells. Hence, they provide an excellent system to finally gain detailed knowledge about such dedicated cellular recycling in ageing.

The aim of this project is to use C. elegans to characterize the molecular changes occurring in the coelomocytes during ageing under control and long-lived conditions. To accomplish this, we will employ a cell-type-specific, integrated proteogenomics approach to differentiate between coelomocyte- and externally produced proteins, and understand changes in their regulatory networks. This grants us a balanced view of the integration of cell-autonomous changes with those as a result of the endocytic process, since the latter is also influenced by non-coelomocytic changes. Discovered targets will be validated for their causal role(s) in C. elegans and in isolated primary macrophages, as such providing fundamental molecular biological knowledge on dedicated cellular recycling in ageing.