MiMage - Role of Mitochondria in Conserved Mechanisms of Ageing

MiMage - Role of Mitochondria in
Conserved Mechanisms of Ageing


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		Coordinator

		Prof. Dr. Heinz D. Osiewacz Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Inst. of Molecular Biosciences Max-von-Laue-Str. 9 D-60438 Frankfurt Germany

Participant 10: University of Aarhus, Denmark

The University of Aarhus, Denmark, was founded in 1928, and is made up of five faculties: Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Theology, and Faculty of Science. In the end of 2002 (latest statistics) the total of ordinary undergraduates was 21,888, while there were 709 Ph.D. students and about 3,360 employees. The research group of Prof. Stevnsner is located at the Department of Molecular Biology (MBI), under the Faculty of Science. MBI is the largest unit at the University of Aarhus Campus for research and education in molecular biology/biotechnology/protein chemistry/structural biology. MBI houses a permanent scientific staff and technical administrative staff of 32 and 46, respectively and a temporary scientific and technical administrative staff of approximately 50 and 30, respectively. Currently, approximately 140 students are enrolled in a Masters programme at MBI while 60 are enrolled in a Ph.D. programme.

Partners: Professor Dr. Tinna Stevnsner, Professor Dr. Vilhelm A. Bohr (University of Aarhus, Denmark & National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, USA)

Profile of the group

The research team at Aarhus University is headed by Dr. Tinna Stevnsner in close collaboration with Dr. Vilhelm A. Bohr. Major research topics of the laboratory include genomic instability in mammalian cells, DNA repair processes in nuclei and mitochondria of mammalian cells, oxidative DNA damage and repair in relation to ageing, and structure function relationship of the Cockayne Syndrome group B (CSB) protein.

The research at the laboratory in Aarhus is closely related to the research at Dr. Bohrs laboratory at NIA; thus the research activities in the two laboratories are closely coordinated and complement each other very well. The team devoted to research in mitochondria and ageing in the laboratory of Tinna Stevnsner includes Dr. Stevnsner, one postdoctoral researcher, two postgraduate students, two pregraduate students and one technician. The team devoted to mitochondrial DNA repair in relation to ageing in Dr. Bohrs laboratory includes Dr. Bohr, one research associate, two postdoctoral researchers and one technician.

Dr. Stevnsner has long-term experience with culturing mammalian cells and measuring in vivo and in vitro DNA repair in nuclei and mitochondria of mammalian cells. She has several years of experience in isolating and studying functional mitochondria from different animal tissues and from cells in culture. Much research has been focused on the role of the CSB protein in repair of oxidative DNA damage. Dr. Bohr has a long standing expertise in molecular biological aspects of the ageing process in mammalian cells, genomic instability, and DNA repair. Much focus has been on the premature ageing syndromes, Werner Syndrome and Cockayne Syndrome as model systems of normal ageing.