Scientists Have Developed a New Way To Study Aging Using Math

Researchers have developed mathematical tools to quantify how quickly cell proteins degrade, offering new insights into aging and disease. Their study categorizes proteins into three degradation rate groups and explores the implications for muscle development, starvation, and neurodegenerative diseases. This method advances our understanding of cellular processes.

New mathematical methods that show the rate at which cell proteins degrade could offer deeper insights into the aging process, according to a recent study co-authored by a researcher from Mississippi State alongside colleagues from Harvard Medical School and the University of Cambridge.

Galen Collins, assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology, co-authored the groundbreaking paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in April.

“We already understand how quickly proteins are made, which can happen in a matter of minutes,” said Collins, who is also a scientist at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. “Until now, we’ve had a very poor understanding of how much time it takes them to break down.”

Galen Collins. Credit: Grace Cockrell

The paper in applied mathematics presents the new tools that quantify the degradation rates of cell proteins—how quickly they break down—helping us understand how cells grow and die and how we age. Proteins—complex molecules made from various combinations of DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313107121

The study was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the Cure