2025 CeMM Landsteiner Lecture with Tony Wyss-Coray

YOUNG BLOOD FOR OLD BRAINS AND THE QUEST TO SLOW BRAIN AGING

Tony Wyss-Coray: Stanford University, California, USA, D. H. Chen Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford Medicine, Director, Phil and Penny Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience

Monday, 12 May 2025, 6:00 pm

Festive Hall, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr.-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna

Host: Giulio Superti-Furga, CeMM Scientific Director;

Aging leads to the degradation of function in nearly all tissues and organs. This process is marked by significant shifts in gene expression and changes in concentrations of all types of biological molecules. Recent technological progress has allowed biologists to measure an unprecedented number of these molecules throughout an organism, providing unique insights into the physiological and pathological conditions of cells and organs, including the aging process.

Large scale proteomic studies in humans demonstrate dramatic shifts in the composition of the blood and cerebrospinal fluid proteomes with age allowing us to estimate brain age and identify proteins linked to cognitive decline, neurodegeneration, and dementia. While brain cell- and tissue-intrinsic factors are likely essential in driving the aging process we find blood borne factors from young humans and mice are sufficient to counteract aspects of brain aging and improve cognitive function in old mice while blood plasma from old organisms is detrimental to young mice and impairs their cognition. These findings open opportunities to identify biomarkers and regulators of aging in general and for brain and other organs specifically.

About the CeMM Landsteiner Lecture:

Named in honor of Karl Landsteiner, the Viennese discoverer of blood groups, the CeMM Landsteiner Lecture is given annually since 2007. The speakers, carefully selected by the faculty at CeMM, are prominent scientists whose molecular research are deemed to have had a significant impact on medicine. The lecture is held in the stunning 18th-century frescoed festive hall of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, where Haydn and Beethoven once held premieres of their work.