Project Details
Description
PROJECT SUMMARY
Rhesus macaques are not only the most commonly used nonhuman primate species for biomedical research
generally, but also specifically for aging. Rhesus share similar life span metrics with humans and have been
used to study numerous facets of aging including cognition, behavior, physiology, and reproductive and immune
senescence. Many studies on aging show inter-individual variability with neuro-degenerative disease and
cognitive decline perhaps the most obvious. Many of these features of aging are heritable and the variability
between individuals is derived, in part, from differences at the genomic level. Any study of aging with a genetic
or epigenetic basis will benefit from increased genomic information. While genome-wide association studies
(GWAS), particularly on aging phenotypes, are largely impracticable in rhesus macaques, associations of a priori
defined genetic variants, such as studies aimed at confirming human GWAS results, may be possible. Moreover,
understanding how and where subjects are not genetically different can be as important in identifying sources of
variation. Lastly, studies focused on the epigenetics of aging and somatic mutation necessarily rely upon
genomic information. It is possible to offer insight into differences between animals by providing whole genome
information on animals in the Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC) NIA Aged Rhesus Macaque
Colony. This, in turn, would provide researchers using the colony a genomic context in which to ground their
studies. It also opens new opportunities for studying molecular aging in nonhuman primate models.
At the completion of the proposed project, we will have generated complete whole genome data on the entirety
of the NIA-supported colony of aging rhesus macaques at the TNPRC. We will make this information available
to the research community in the NIH Short Read Archive (SRA) and at the mGAP web portal. These results will
immediately allow any member of the research community with an interest in the NIA-supported aging colony to
incorporate genetics into their studies. It will also facilitate pilot studies at the TNPRC to recapitulate and validate
previous human studies on aging phenotypes, efforts that can be expanded to other NPRCs with aging colonies.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 1/05/12 → 30/04/23 |
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