Chemical analysis of ageing tissue

General Poster: Ageing Flies

Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) are the result of ubiquitous unwanted reactions between reducing sugars and amino acids that form adducts on proteins. These adducts accumulate with age, at an increased rate in diabetic patients, with particular implications for long lived structures such as the eye lens because they can interfere with the biological functions of proteins. Levels of AGEs correlate with an increased rate of morbidity, probably by causing tissue dysfunction. The work will provide a better molecular understanding of ageing with a view to finding out whether AGEs are really a cause or just a result of ageing processes.