July 15, 2024
Actin is an essential protein in a cell’s skeletal structure, forming a sense network of thin supporting filaments. In this image, using a technique called stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy, dyed actin strands crisscross a cell.
Image courtesy of Xiaowei Zhuang, HHMI, Harvard University, and Nature Publishing Group.
July 11, 2024
By learning how small amounts of stress activate autophagy, researchers may create new approaches to combat age-related disease
Assistant Professor Caroline Kumsta, Ph.D., has been awarded a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The funding will advance research to better understand how the body’s cellular recycling system (autophagy) needs to be activated to produce long-term health benefits.
“This award will enable us to take a deeper dive into the fascinating concept of hormesis, where mild, sublethal stress leads to improved health and a longer lifespan,” says Kumsta. “Our goal with this grant is to learn more about how this is regulated, which may lead to healthier aging and improved treatments for age-related conditions.”
Like many researchers, Kumsta uses C. elegans—a tiny roundworm—as a model organism to reveal important lessons about aging and autophagy. C. elegans is a powerful tool for biological research because it shares many of the same anatomic and cell functions as humans, and their short lifespan (average 17 days) enables researchers to study how genes are activated and measure the effects in just two to three weeks.
Kumsta’s lab has previously shown how brief exposure to heat shock (stress) early in life triggers autophagy, which is crucial for maintaining cellular health and function. They identified two key transcription factors, HLH-30/TFEB and HSF-1, proteins that help turn specific genes on or off, which play a significant role in regulating autophagy and are required for these long-term benefits.
“Next, we aim to pinpoint the exact timing and specific tissues where autophagy must be activated to achieve these long-term health benefits,” says Kumsta. “We will investigate how heat shock affects autophagy-related genes over time and uncover new regulators of HLH-30/TFEB.
“Our preliminary data suggest that certain autophagy genes maintain elevated transcript levels for several days post-heat shock, indicating a sustained beneficial effect. We will use cutting-edge techniques like single-cell RNA sequencing to identify these long-term transcriptional changes and determine their roles in promoting longevity and improved proteostasis,” adds Kumsta.
By understanding the precise spatiotemporal requirements for autophagy activation, Kumsta hopes to develop innovative strategies, such as heat therapy, to enhance cellular health during aging and treat age-related diseases.
The grant, awarded by the National Institute on Aging, is titled, “Hormetic regulation of Autophagy in Aging” R01 AG083373).
July 8, 2024
The colorful intricacies of a mouse kidney are depicted in this quantum dot fluorescence image (240X magnification)
Thomas Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, UC San Diego.
July 1, 2024
A peek inside the developing brain of a live zebrafish using a confocal microscope and labeling of the brain’s endothelial cells with fluorescent proteins. What’s depicted is the construction of the blood-brain barrier.
Image courtesy of Jennifer Peters and Michael Taylor at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Nikon Small World.
June 24, 2024
A scanning electron micrograph of a tardigrade, more colloquially known as water bears or moss piglets. These incredibly hardy micro-animals (1,300 known species) are found throughout the Earth’s biospheres, from mountaintops and rainforests to Antarctica and the deep sea. They have even survived exposure to outer space.
Image courtesy of Eye of Science/Science Photo Library.
June 18, 2024
Every multicellular organism has a finite lifespan, a point in which time-related deterioration prevails over synthesis (apart from factors like disease) and death occurs. It’s the biology of senescence.
In the United States, the average life expectancy for a multicellular human being at birth is currently slightly more than 79 years – a little higher for women, a little lower for men.
Of course, some people live much longer. There are an estimated 101,000 centenarians in the U.S., people who are 100 years and older. There are approximately 722,000 centenarians in the world. These “super-aged” folks belong to a fast-growing age demographic. By 2054, the U.S. population is projected to quadruple and the global centenarian population to reach 4 million.
How and why do these people live so long? What can we learn from them? Researchers everywhere are asking these questions, including at Sanford Burnham Prebys and the San Diego Nathan Shock Center, a National Institute of Aging-supported collaboration with UC San Diego and Salk Institute.
Longevity is the particular subject of many scientific projects, including an ongoing longitudinal study in the Cilento region of southern Italy, which is famous for healthy aging and the Mediterranean Diet. Researchers from Sanford Burnham Prebys, the Sanford Stem Cell Institute at UC San Diego and the University of Rome La Sapienza seek to learn how their lifestyles and health behaviors, particularly their diet, may contribute to remarkably long lives with low rates of heart disease and dementia.
One of the co-principal investigators of the Cilento Initiative on Aging Outcomes (CIAO) study is David Brenner, MD, president and CEO of Sanford Burnham Prebys. Recently Brenner and colleagues visited one of the study’s participants: a 101-year-old woman named Nicolina.
June 17, 2024
A confocal micrograph of an adult transgenic zebrafish head showing blood vessels (blue), lymphatic vessels (yellow) and the skin and scales (magenta).
Image courtesy of Daniel Castranova and Brant M. Weinstein, NIH.
June 11, 2024
The Institute marked Pride month by ceremonially raising the Pride flag and discussing progress toward inclusion in the scientific community
Sanford Burnham Prebys recognized the beginning of Pride month with a Pride flag-raising event on Friday, June 7, 2024. The gathering included an opportunity for speakers in a variety of roles throughout the Institute to share comments on the meaning of the Pride flag in their lives and careers.
David Brenner, MD, president, CEO and Donald Bren Chief Executive Chair at Sanford Burnham Prebys, opened the ceremony, saying, “I’m very proud of everyone for working together to make this a welcoming community.”
Luca Caputo, PhD, postdoctoral associate in the lab of Lorenzo Puri, MD, discussed the mission of the Queer Science Society, which was founded to create a safe space for postdoctoral fellows and other scholars in San Diego. He added, “I’m happy to be here in this inclusive environment.”
Patrick Kearney, PhD, director of medicinal chemistry in the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, added, “After I joined the Institute last year and saw the Pride flag flying for the first time, I was incredibly moved. It was the first time I’d seen this happen in 40 years as a scientist. While it may seem simple, it is far from trivial, and it tells me that things are different here.”
Luca Caputo, PhD, postdoctoral associate in the lab of Lorenzo Puri, MD, discussed the mission of the Queer Science Society, which was founded to create a safe space for postdoctoral fellows and other scholars in San Diego. He added, “I’m happy to be here in this inclusive environment.”
Patrick Kearney, PhD, director of medicinal chemistry in the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, added, “After I joined the Institute last year and saw the Pride flag flying for the first time, I was incredibly moved. It was the first time I’d seen this happen in 40 years as a scientist. While it may seem simple, it is far from trivial, and it tells me that things are different here.”
The Pride flag-raising event was planned by the Institute’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Council. Lauren Mitchell, MS, program manager for DEIB, expressed gratitude for the meaningful contributions of the volunteers and speakers, as well as the many participants that attended and showed support for DEIB at the Institute.
June 10, 2024
In this distinctive mind map, created by Sahah Ahmad, Ye Wu and Pew-Thian Yap at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the brain’s substructures (hippocampus in orange, amygdala in pink, putamen in magenta, caudate nucleus in purple and nucleus accumbens in green) are shown bound together by colorful, yarn-like fibers.
June 7, 2024
The Sanford Burnham Prebys Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences held its first-ever Commencement ceremony to celebrate nearly 20 years of educating future scientists
On Friday, May 31, 2024, the Sanford Burnham Prebys Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences hosted four graduates, their family members and friends as well as current students, faculty members and staff at the Institute’s campus in La Jolla for the school’s first-ever Commencement ceremony.
In addition to honoring the four graduates in attendance, the event also recognized the 62 other alumni who graduated from the Institute’s graduate school in the nearly 20 years since its founding in 2006.
“The graduate school is a direct extension of our commitment to training the next generation of scientists,” said David Brenner, MD, president, CEO and Donald Bren Chief Executive Chair at Sanford Burnham Prebys, during his welcoming remarks. “We focus on cultivating a collaborative culture where students are full participants. Thank you for your dedication to learning and creating new knowledge, and for your contributions to our mission of translating science to improve health.”
Brenner added, “We’re incredibly proud of you!”
Alessandra Sacco, PhD, director of, and professor in, the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, and dean of the Institute’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, delivered the Commencement address.
“Hold onto perseverance and trust in yourself as you move forward,” said Sacco. “Never forget the sacrifices you have made, the hours in the lab and the failed experiments that have shaped you into better researchers.”
Sacco also remarked, “You are the next generation of scientists. You can make a difference by pushing on scientific boundaries while also having a positive influence on your communities.”
Alessandra Sacco, PhD, director of, and professor in, the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, and dean of the Institute’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, delivered the Commencement address.
After concluding her remarks by wishing the graduates great success throughout their professional journeys, Sacco introduced Stephen Sakuma, PhD ’24, to speak on behalf of the Institute’s 66 alumni.
Stephen Sakuma, PhD ’24, spoke on behalf of the Institute’s
66 alumni.
“The faculty and community at Sanford Burnham Prebys have been tremendous and afforded me the most meaningful opportunities to learn and grow,” said Sakuma. “The journey has been long and, at times, arduous, but it also has been exceedingly rewarding.”
Diane Klotz, PhD, chief learning officer at Sanford Burnham Prebys, then discussed the meaning of the hoods and symbols that are used in Commencement ceremonies. She recognized the Institute’s alumni, both present and across the globe, and explained that all graduates are conferred degrees following the completion of all educational requirements and successful defense of their theses.
The Commencement ceremony, then, represents an opportunity to welcome back and celebrate with our alumni and their friends and family, and to pay tribute to alumni unable to attend who entrusted Sanford Burnham Prebys with their graduate education and preparation to enter the field of biomedical research.
Klotz invited the graduates forward and instructed faculty members to adorn them with the doctoral academic hoods signifying completion of a PhD program.
The graduates who attended the Commencement ceremony were:
As the inaugural dean of the Institute’s graduate school, Salvesen provided the ceremony’s closing remarks. He wished the alumni well and supported Sacco’s assertion that their perseverance would be rewarded, which he reinforced with a quote from author and Arches National Park enthusiast Edward Abbey.
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.”