Rio Sugimura, MD, PhD | School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong
Competition Sponsor: Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
Award Year: 2023
Inflammaging is one of the major drivers of aging and senescence. The identification of its mechanism will enable drug discovery to stop aging. Inflammatory macrophage is the main contributor to inflammaging. We recently identified that nuclear PD-L1 regulates inflammatory programs in macrophages. Loss of nuclear PD-L1 inhibits the production of inflammatory cytokines of macrophages, suggesting a promising target for anti-aging therapeutics. Here we propose to determine the molecular mechanisms of nuclear PD-L1 and discover a therapeutic approach to inhibit inflammaging. Our feasibility is demonstrated by preliminary data and accumulated literature. The success of the project will lead to drug discovery and R&D application in ithe ndustry of Hong Kong. The impact of targeting inflmammaging for human health is immense.