Students are introduced to the molecular mechanisms of aging in different organisms; adoption of basic biological concepts for mathematical modelling.

Upon successful completion of the course, the student is expected to be familiar with:

1. Basic concepts of aging.
2. The most important theories of aging.
3. Cellular aging: Metabolic, physiological and morphological changes of senescent cells; the stochastic nature of cellular aging.
4. Molecular mechanisms of cell aging control: Telomere structure, their role in the cell, replication, their shortening dynamics; Shelterin, conformations, interactions with proteins; Subtelomeres, telomerase, telomeric systems in various organisms; Replication and abrupt shortening of telomeres; ALT – alternative lenghtening of telomeres.
5. Experimental evidence for the mechanisms of aging: Telomerase expression in normal somatic cells; Accelerated aging syndromes in humans; Telomerase expression at the organism level; Elimination of old cells from the body; Re-expression of telomerase in an old organism.
6. Methods and analyzes of telomere measurements at the level of individuals and population.
7. Mechanisms of transition from normal to tumour cells and the interdependence of aging and carcinogenesis.

1. Introduction: What is aging – basic concepts; Theories of aging (cellular aging, aging at the organism level, aging at the population level).
2. Cell aging: Metabolic, physiological and morphological changes of cells; the stochastic nature of cellular aging.
3. Molecular mechanisms of cell aging control: Telomere structure, their role in the cell, replication, their shortening dynamics; Shelterin, their conformations, their interactions with proteins; Subtelomeres, telomerase, telomeric systems in various organisms; Replication and abrupt shortening of telomeres; ALT – alternative lenghtening of telomeres.
4. Experimental evidence for mechanisms of aging: Telomerase expression in normal somatic cells; Accelerated aging syndromes in humans; Telomerase expression at the organism level; Elimination of old cells from the body; Re-expression of telomerase in an old organism.
5. Methods and analyzes of telomere measurements at the level of individuals and population.
6. Statistical monitoring of population movements from the aspect of biometric parameters of aging.
7. Theory of free radicals: What are free radicals in the cell, how they are formed and how they affect cell senescence.
8. Imortalization: Mechanisms of transition from normal cell to tumour; interdependence of aging and carcinogenesis.