Dr. Alexandra Stolzing

Alexandra Stolzing, Ph.D. is Group Leader, Stem Cell Biology and Regeneration, Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Germany. She is also on the Research Advisory Board of the SENS Research Foundation.
 
Alexandra’s group is investigating ways to utilize cellular reprogramming technologies in order to re-instate regenerative capacity in aged tissue and in niches of aged stem cells. She studies 4 main approaches:
 
Cellular Fusion: Cell fusion occurs spontaneously in humans after bone marrow transplantation or stem cell injections and is also part of the natural maintenance of several tissues. Silenced genes can become activated upon fusion and cells become infused with “young” factors. An understanding of the intracellular regulatory network will enhance our ability to enlist this potential to direct changes and lead cells towards a specialized differentiation state or roll back the genetic age of a cell.
 
Induced Pluripotency: Her group is applying a novel technique to de-differentiate aged and specialized cells towards a pluripotent state which has a similar differentiation potential to embryonic stem cells.
 
Partial Cloning: In partial cloning a nucleus is taken out of an adult cell, exposed temporarily to the cytoplasm of an enucleated oocyte, and then reinserted into the original or nearby cell. No reprogramming towards an embryonic status is required or intended. Partial reprogramming is potentially very valuable as the basis of autologous cellular rejuvenation therapies or for creating “regeneration trigger cells” — impulses delivered by small quantities of particularly vigorous cells that can be used to initiate a “regeneration cascade” in vivo or to initiate and modulate growth behavior in the complex scaffolds used for tissue engineering.
 
Cell Conditioning: Insights from basic aging studies have helped her to develop advanced protocols for modulating cell fate and cell survival. By applying specially adapted cell culture techniques, a carefully monitored environment and by supplementation with certain cell culture factors, she is refining methods of maintaining and increasing the differentiation potential of adult stem cells.
 
Alexandra is coeditor of Extending the Lifespan: Biotechnical, Gerontological, and Social Problems. Her papers include Aging of mesenchymal stem cells, Neuronal apoptotic bodies: phagocytosis and degradation by primary microglial cells, Phosphorylation inhibits turnover of the tau protein by the proteasome: influence of RCAN1 and oxidative stress, The consequences of acute cold exposure on protein oxidation and proteasome activity in short-tailed field voles, microtus agrestis, Angiogenic properties of aged adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells after hypoxic conditioning, and Allogeneic Non-Adherent Bone Marrow Cells Facilitate Hematopoietic Recovery but Do Not Lead to Allogeneic Engraftment.
 
Alexandra earned her Ph.D. in Biology at Humboldt University Berlin, Germany in 2003 and her MSc in Biology at Rheinische-Friedrich Wilhelm University Bonn, Germany in 1999.
 
Listen to Longecity Interview with Dr. Alexandra Stolzing. Watch 2 23 Alexandra Stolzing.