SENS Research Foundation Announces New Research Program on Developing Monoclonal Antibodies Against Glucosepane With David Spiegel Lab

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 18, 2017 -- SENS Research Foundation (SRF) has launched a new research program focused on developing monoclonal antibodies against glucosepane. David A. Spiegel, MD, PhD is Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacology at Yale University, and will be running the project in his laboratory, which focuses on developing new methods and molecules that will facilitate our understanding and treatment of human disease.                                                                                             

Glucosepane is the most prevalent crosslink found in collagen in people over 65 years of age, and its presence has been correlated to age-related tissue damage through various mechanisms. Understanding of glucosepane has been hampered by the molecule’s complex and sensitive chemical structure; it can only be isolated from human samples in minute quantities and in an impure form.  To enable these advances in both basic and therapeutic science, the Spiegel laboratory has recently accomplished the first total synthesis of glucosepane. The lab is now utilizing its novel synthetic glucosepane derivatives to generate the first monoclonal anti-glucosepane antibodies.  Access to these antibodies would profoundly enable and accelerate the goal of developing the first anti-glucosepane monoclonal antibodies, while consequently bringing closer the obtainment of the first discrete, specific reagents for labeling, studying, and perhaps also cleaving glucosepane in vivo.  Such tools have tremendous potential to help illuminate, and reverse, age-related damage as it occurs in human tissues.

“Our collaboration with SRF has significantly increased our understanding of glucosepane and the impact it has on our tissues as we age. I am very pleased to continue collaborating with SENS Research Foundation,” said Dr. Spiegel.

“Launching our new project with David Spiegel will enable SRF to continue to build on the momentum which was created by his initial project which resulted in his ability to synthesize glucosepane.  Now we are able to move forward in the creation of potential treatments for age-related damage in human tissue,” said Dr. Aubrey de Grey, CSO, SENS Research Foundation.

This research has been made possible through the generous support of Michael Antonov and the Forever Healthy Foundation and its founder Michael Greve. The Forever Healthy Foundation is a private nonprofit initiative whose mission is to enable people to vastly extend their healthy lifespans and be part of the first generation to cure aging. In order to accelerate the development of therapies to bring aging under full medical control, the Forever Healthy Foundation directly supports cutting-edge research aimed at the molecular and cellular repair of damage caused by the aging process.

About SENS Research Foundation (SRF)
SENS Research Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to research, develop, and promote comprehensive regenerative medicine solutions for the diseases of aging. SRF is focused on a damage repair paradigm for treating the diseases of aging, which it advances through scientific research, advocacy, and education. SENS Research Foundation supports research projects at universities and institutes around the world with the goal of curing such age-related diseases as macular degeneration, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. Educating the public and training researchers to support a growing regenerative medicine field are also major endeavors of the organization that are being accomplished though advocacy campaigns and educational programs. For more information, visit www.sens.org.

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Jerri Barrett
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