Frank Madeo
Established spermidine as a dietary compound that extends lifespan in yeast, worms, flies and mice, and showed that the effect depends on autophagy
Full Professor and Director of Research, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz (since 2004) · group leader, University of Tübingen (1997–2004) · PhD on tyrosine phosphorylation and apoptosis in yeast, University of Tübingen (1994–1997) · biochemistry studies, University of Tübingen (1987–1993)
Ageing and Cell Death Laboratory, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz (Graz, Austria) ↗ Lab lineage1 direct trainee → ORCID0000-0002-5070-1329 ↗
Portrait: University of Graz
Madeo came to ageing through cell death in yeast, and the habit shows in how his laboratory frames interventions: not “does this extend life” but “what has to be intact for it to work”. Spermidine is the case in point. EIS2009 established that the polyamine induces autophagy and extends lifespan across four systems; EIS2016 moved it into mammals and made the heart protection contingent on Atg5 in cardiomyocytes.
The branch matters to this Atlas because it reaches autophagy by a route that does not start at mTOR (EIS2009 did not measure mTOR directly). Where rapamycin releases autophagy by inhibiting mTORC1, spermidine does it by changing histone acetylation and the transcription of autophagy genes. That makes it a useful test of a claim the Atlas is careful about: if the benefits of mTOR inhibition really run through autophagy, an mTOR-independent autophagy inducer should reproduce part of them.
His laboratory also works on other caloric-restriction mimetics and on fasting regimens, and he is an editor of the yeast and cell-stress literature in this area.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | A | Induction of autophagy by spermidine promotes longevity EIS2009 Senior author: autophagy is required for spermidine to suppress necrosis and extend lifespan. |
| 2016 | A | Cardioprotection and lifespan extension by the natural polyamine spermidine EIS2016 Senior author: spermidine extends mouse lifespan and prevents cardiac ageing, with the effect abolished in cardiomyocyte Atg5 knockouts. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 20
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Frank Madeo.
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- Didac Carmona-Gutierrez 2 shared studies Studies how cell death and autophagy shape ageing at the University of Graz, and contributed to the studies showing that spermidine extends lifespan through autophagy
- Christoph Magnes 2 shared studies Analytical chemist at Joanneum Research whose group contributed the mass-spectrometry measurements of polyamines in the Graz spermidine studies
- Christoph Ruckenstuhl 2 shared studies Yeast geneticist who works out how amino-acid restriction and vacuole acidity set lifespan
- Sabrina Büttner 2 shared studies Studies how organelles communicate inside cells and how that communication breaks down with age, and contributed to the Graz studies showing that spermidine extends lifespan by inducing autophagy
- Sabrina Schroeder 2 shared studies Researcher in Frank Madeo's group at Graz who has contributed to the spermidine studies from the first yeast longevity experiments to work in mice
- Tobias Eisenberg 2 shared studies Showed as first author that the dietary polyamine spermidine extends lifespan by inducing autophagy, and later that it protects the heart in an autophagy-dependent way
- Birgit Rathkolb Scientist at the German Mouse Clinic of Helmholtz Munich and the Gene Center of LMU Munich who contributes to the clinic's phenotyping of mouse models
- Frauke Neff First author of the study that separated what rapamycin does to lifespan from what it does to ageing itself
- Guido Kroemer Cell biologist known for work on programmed cell death, mitochondria and autophagy, and for linking autophagy to ageing and cancer immunity.
- Helmut Fuchs Scientific and technical head of the German Mouse Clinic at Helmholtz Munich, the standardised many-organ testing platform for mouse models that Fuchs helped build
- Jan Rozman Scientist who worked at the German Mouse Clinic of Helmholtz Munich on the standardised phenotyping of mouse models
- Johannes Beckers Geneticist at Helmholtz Munich and the Technical University of Munich whose group at the Institute of Experimental Genetics runs gene-expression profiling for the German Mouse Clinic
- Jörn Dengjel Mass-spectrometry proteomics specialist in autophagy and protein homeostasis; co-author on the TBK1/ULK1–TFEB lysosomal stress pathway and on the spermidine lifespan and cardioprotection study.
- Junichi Sadoshima Studies how mTOR, autophagy and mitophagy protect the heart under stress and in ageing, and contributed to the finding that spermidine protects the heart
- Kristin Moreth Scientist at the German Mouse Clinic of Helmholtz Munich who contributed to its phenotyping of mouse models, including heart measurements
- Luca Scorrano Mitochondrial biologist known for showing how the shape of mitochondria and their inner folds (cristae) control energy production and cell death.
- Marion Horsch Scientist at the Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Munich, who has worked with Johannes Beckers on gene-expression studies of mouse models for the German Mouse Clinic
- Martin Hrabě de Angelis Mouse geneticist who directs large-scale phenotyping of mouse mutants and the German Mouse Clinic, a platform that tests how genes affect health and disease.
- Nektarios Tavernarakis Geneticist who uses the roundworm C. elegans to study how ageing, neurodegeneration, necrotic cell death, autophagy and protein turnover are controlled
- Valérie Gailus-Durner Biochemist who co-founded the German Mouse Clinic at Helmholtz Munich and leads it as scientific head, running standardised testing of mouse models across many organ systems
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