A Wrinkle in Time – refining models to study aging
Dr. Stepheny Zani - 11 May 2026
Dr. Troy Harkness
From myths of a countess using novice blood to remain young to a hype of metabolism boosters, the search for longevity spans across centuries. But don’t be mistaken, aging-related diseases have nothing to do with beauty or wrinkles. They start from within, in the tiny cells making up the body, and scientists are working non-stop to find ways to fight them.
Each cell in the body has machinery producing essential molecules to build tissues and generate energy. This machinery also works relentlessly to repair mutations and to remove waste and abnormal proteins. Sometimes, because of mutations or machinery failure, protein accumulates inside the cells; this is one of the hallmarks of cellular aging!
Aging-related diseases may be associated with protein accumulation within the cell, such as in Hutchinson-Gilford Progreria Syndrome (HGPS). This is a rare and fatal disease caused by a mutation in the LMNA (Lamin A/C gene) that causes a protein named Progerin to build up inside the cell leading to premature aging in children. Although the relationship between intracellular accumulation and aging is known, scientists need translatable models to test new compounds and advance anti-aging strategies.
In a perfect world, human-derived aged cells would be ideal to test these compounds, but waiting for them to age takes time. For this reason, in research laboratories other organisms have been used to study aging, such as rodents, the C. elegans worm, and yeast (e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Although in a simplest form, yeast have similar machinery coordinating lifespan and cellular aging as in humans, making them excellent and accessible tools to screen anti-aging compounds.
Driven by their ambition to refine models used to study aging, Dr. Troy Harkess’s group worked with Dr. Christopher Eskiw at the University of Saskatchewan to develop a model of premature aging to speed up the screening of anti-aging compounds, especially those aiming to reverse intracellular protein accumulation. The collaboration featured Dr. Eskiw’s research program focused on human cells to study HGPS and Dr. Harkess’ research focused on aging using yeast. Led by Dr. Zach Belak, the group created a yeast-based model that may facilitate how anti-aging strategies are screened. The work is now published in the journal, Aging.
Before they could claim a successful model, they first needed to verify if Progerin accumulation would cause the same age-related changes as it does in humans. Since yeast does not normally have this protein, the authors added the human version of Progerin in the genetic code so that it would be made by yeast. When they did, they found that those cells grew slower, had more mutations and were dying earlier (shorter lifespan).
Because these changes mirror what happens in humans during aging; they confirmed that yeast could be a translatable model for studying aging associated with protein accumulation.
Interestingly, Progerin is not easily degraded by yeast. This is important because it enables the screening of anti-aging compounds targeting protein destruction. They discovered that Progerin accumulates in older (mother) cells instead of young (daughter) cells. They believe this to be a mother cell’s way to protect the daughter cells from the toxicity of Progerin, preserving their development.
They didn’t stop there; they went further and developed a novel method using flow cytometry of formalin-fixed yeast cells stained with a fluorescent dye. This method can be used to rapidly screen anti-aging compounds; especially those targeting protein destruction and preventing cellular damage.
Their findings prove yeast to be a powerful model to study cellular changes associated with aging. Importantly, this newly developed high-throughput method enables the fast screening of compounds targeting anti-aging outcomes related to protein accumulation.
The search for longevity is part of human ambition. While wrinkles are the visible signs of aging, science is looking beneath it, within the cells. Dr. Harkess team’s work is an example of how scientists are not only finding a way to treat a syndrome, but how they are refining tools to enhance our capacity to fight against aging and the diseases it brings with it.