AGING PREVENTION – Simultaneous modulation of ABAD and mTOR signaling pathway

Within our project, we would like to develop a new class of anti-aging drugs – drugs intended to slow the aging process. In past, we investigated the mitochondrial enzyme amyloid-binding alcohol dehydrogenase (ABAD) in relation to Alzheimer´s disease. In meantime, it has been found that ABAD modulation could also help within cancer therapy. More recently, we obtained preliminary results revealing that ABAD modulators also act as immunosuppressants. Due to the preliminary data mentioned above, we propose ABAD modulators as possible therapeutics against aging, in particular, drug candidates able to delay the aging of the organism in a similar way as rapamycine and its derivatives (rapalogs) do.
For this purpose, in silico screening, chemical synthesis, and in vitro and in vivo evaluation of the novel class of anti-aging drugs able to simultaneously modulate ABAD and mTOR signaling pathway will be realized.

Age is the greatest non-modifiable risk factor of most diseases, which involve e.g. cancer, neurodegeneration, diabetes mellitus, or metabolic syndrome.1 Approximately 150,000 people die worldwide every day and two-thirds of them die from age-related diseases. Although there are many definitions of the aging process, generally it can be defined as the accumulation of diverse deleterious changes occurring in cells and tissues with advancing age that is responsible for increased risk of diseases and death. The majority of older people are affected by a number of aging symptoms such as cognitive decline, loss of hearing and vision, bone frailty, or osteoarthritis. Recently, lots of companies and researchers have turned their attention to the development of a new branch of pharmaceuticals – so-called anti-aging drugs, i.e. drugs intended to slow the aging process. Their goal is to increase the ‘healthspan’ — the number of years that a person lives in a good health — rather than simply adding years to live. Till now, a huge number of anti-aging drug candidates have been investigated worldwide.

In our project, we turned our attention to the modulation of ABAD and mTOR signaling pathway to obtain a new class of anti-aging drugs which will be further investigated for this purpose.