From Resilience to Vulnerability: How Stress Accelerates Aging

This project investigates how repeated mild stress alters gene expression and epigenetic patterns, accelerating aging in the retina and increasing vulnerability to neurodegeneration.

Aging, a process where damage accumulates in our cells over time, makes tissues more sensitive to elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). However, it is unknown how cells become more vulnerable as they age. Our experiments will explore how retinas respond to IOP-related stress and the mechanisms behind this vulnerability, aiming to find new ways to protect retinal neurons from glaucomatous changes.

This project uniquely models accelerated aging using controlled, mild stress in young tissue. By linking progressive epigenetic changes to loss of resilience, it introduces a stepwise framework for aging. The integration of transcriptomic and epigenomic data to define early-to-late stage transitions in neuronal aging is novel and could reveal therapeutic targets to restore resilience.

By revealing how repeated mild stress accelerates aging, this study could lead to early diagnostic markers and interventions that preserve eye function with age. Understanding the stepwise epigenetic changes from resilience to vulnerability may inform treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. Ultimately, this research could benefit both the aging population and scientific efforts to delay or reverse age-related neurodegenerative diseases like glaucoma.