Mahtab JafariDirector, Pharmaceutical Sciences Undergraduate Program Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences Joint Appointment, Pharmacology Joint Appointment, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology |
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Research Interests |
The Impact of Botanical Extracts on Longevity and Health Span, Anti-Aging Pharmacology, and Preventive Medicine | |
| URLs | Jafari Laboratory | |
| See below for selected publications or click here for additional publication listings available via PubMed | ||
| Pharmaceutical Sciences Home Page | ||
| Pharmacology Home Page | ||
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Academic Distinctions |
2008, UCI Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research. 2008, "20 Women to Watch in Orange County", OC Metro Business Magazine. 2007-2008, Recipient of the UCI Distinguished Assistant Professor Award for Teaching. 1997, Honorable Mention for Innovation in Teaching, American Council on Pharmacy Education. |
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Research Abstract |
- Anti-Aging Pharmacology of Natural Products - Consumption of natural products claimed to have anti-aging properties is high in the US population. While some studies show an impact on age-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative disorders, there are large gaps in our knowledge about the mechanisms through which these products modulate aging. - Screening Candidate Anti-Aging Compounds - We need appropriate methodologies to study the pharmacology of aging in model species, if experimental findings with such systems are to be extrapolated to the treatment of human aging. Using Drosophila as our model system, we have developed a number of bioassay to address this issue. These assays constitute a general testing protocol for anti-aging pharmacology. - Molecular Mechanisms of Anti-Aging - We hypothesize that botanicals extend life span and enhance health span by modulating one or more of the major pathways of aging: mitochondrial bioenergetics/oxidative stress, insulin signaling, sirtuins, and target of rapamycin (TOR). Using cell culture, Drosophila and mice as our model systems, we use standardized botanical extracts to address the following questions: 1) Do the botanicals that attenuate aging also improve health span? 2) Do these botanicals alter mitochondrial function, reduce free radicals, and/or protect against oxidative stress?; and 3) Do these botanicals act through the major pathways or proteins associated with aging? |
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| Publications |
- Selected Publications in Aging (Since 2006)- Jafari, M. and Rose, M.R. 2006. Rules for the Use of Model Organisms in Anti-Aging Pharmacology. Aging Cell. 5:17-22. Jafari M, Long AD, Mueller LD and Rose MR.. 2006. Pharmacology of aging in Drosophila.Current Drug Targets. (7), 1479-1483. Mathieu, C. and Jafari, M. 2006 Immunomodulation by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3: Therapeutic implications in autoimmunity and transplantation. Clinical Nephrology. 66(4): 275-283. Mahtab Jafari, Behnood Khodayari, Jeffrey Felgner, Irvin I. Bussel, Michael R. Rose, and Laurence D. Mueller. 2007 Pioglitazone: An Anti-Diabetic Compound with Anti-Aging Properties. Biogerontology 8:639-651. Mahtab Jafari, Jeffrey Felgner, Behnood Khodayari, Anthony Hutchili, Irvin I. Bussel, Concordia Vince-Cruz, Michael R. Rose, and Laurence D. Mueller. 2007 Rhodiola: A Promising Anti-Aging Chinese Herb. Rejuvenation Research. 10 (4): 1-16. Sepulveda S., P. Shojaeian, C. L. Rauser, M. Jafari, L. D. Mueller, M. R. Rose. 2008. Interactions between Injury, Stress, and Aging in Drosophila melanogaster. Experimental Gerontology. 43(3):136-45. Mahtab Jafari, Asghar Zarban, Steven Chang, and Thomas Wang. 2008 Rosa damascena decreases mortality in adult Drosophila. Journal of Medicinal Foods. 11 (1): 9-13. Bussel, I.I, Joseph, M., Lewis, V., Jafari, M. 2008 Caffeine supplementation increases mortality in female Drosophila melanogaster without reproductive or metabolic impairment. Drosophila Information Services. Volume 91. December 2008. Avanesian A, Khodayari B, Felgner J.S, Jafari M. 2009 Lamotrigine Extends Lifespan but Compromises Health Span in Drosophila melanogaster. Biogerontology. 11(1): 45-52. Samuel E Schriner, Agnesa Avanesian, Yanxia Liu, Hendrik Luesch, and Mahtab Jafari. 2009 Protection of human cultured cells against oxidative stress by Rhodiola rosea without activation of antioxidant defenses. Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 47: 577-584 Samuel E. Schriner, Ani Abrahamyan, Agnesa Avanesian, Irvin Bussel, Maral Gazarian, Marissa A. Holmbeck, and Mahtab Jafari. 2009 Decreased mitochondrial superoxide levels and enhanced protection against paraquat in Drosophila melanogaster supplemented with Rhodiola rosea. Free Radical Research. 43(9): 836-843 Agnesa Avanesian, Sahar Semnani and Mahtab Jafari. 2009 Can Drosophila melanogaster Represent a Model System for the Detection of Reproductive Adverse Drug Reactions? Drug Discovery Today. 14 (15/16): 761-766. Mahtab Jafari. 2010 Drosophila Melanogaster as a Model System for Evaluating Anti-aging Compounds. FLY 4 (3): 1-5 Kyu-Sun Lee, Byung-Sup Lee, Sahar Semnani, Agnesa Avanesian, Se-Yoon Um, Hyun-Jin Jeon, Kwon Yu, Kyung-Jin Min*, and Mahtab Jafari* (*equal contribution made by these authors). 2010 Curcumin Extends Lifespan, Improves Heal Span, and Modulate Aging Related Genes in Drosophila Melanogaster. Rejuvenation Research 13 (5): 1-10. Zhongbo Liu, Xuesen Li, Anne R. Simoneau, Mahtab Jafari, and Xiaolin Zi. 2011. Rhodiola rosea extracts and salidroside decrease the growth of bladder cancer cell lines via inhibition of the mTOR pathway and induction of autophagy. Molecular Carcinogenesis. April 22, 2011 (ePub) - Recent Book Chapters - Preventive Cardiology. 2nd Edition. Nathan D. Wong, Henry R. Black, and Julius M. Gardin. McGraw-Hill 2004. Fundamentals of the Stem Cell Debate. Chapter 4: Religious Perspectives on Embryonic Stem Cell Research, 2007, University of California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London. |
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- Selected Recent Posters Presented and Published at Scientific Meetings - Jafari, M, Bussel II, Zare N, and Tavakoli B. Drosophila Melanogaster as a Model System to Evaluate Drug Induced Central Nervous System Adverse Effects. International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, Colorado Springs, Co. April 2007. Khodayari B and Jafari M. Evaluating Metabolic Rate as a Rule of Investigation for Anti-Aging Pharmacology. Dominican University Research Symposium for Undergraduate Research. Oakland, California. April 2007. Khodayari B and Jafari M. The Trade-off Between Metabolic Rate and Anti-Aging Properties of Lamotrigine. 35th Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association. San Antonio, Texas. June 2007. Jafari M, Khodayari B, Bussel II, and Rose MR. Pharmacological Assays for Screening Anti-Aging Compounds. 35th Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association. San Antonio, Texas. June 2007. Jafari M. Drosophila melanogaster: a model organism for anti-aging pharmacology. 2008 American College of Clinical Pharmacy Annual Practice and Research Forum . Phoenix, AZ. April 2008. Samuel E. Schriner, Agnesa Avanesian, Maral Garazian, and Mahtab Jafari. Rhodiola rosea: Drosophila Lifespan Extension and Protection against Superoxide. 2009. Gordon Conference on Biology of Aging, Ventura, Ca. February 2009. Samuel E. Schriner, Ai-Quyen Duong, Steven Maler, Sahar Semnani, and Mahtab Jafari. Extension of Drosophila life span independently of Sir2. 2009 Nathan Shock Conference on Aging. Bandera, TX. October 2009 -Selected Invited Seminars at Academic Instituitions (Since 2008)- 2008 • Rhodiola rosea, Lifespan Extension and Oxidative Stress, University of Florida, FL, Department of Aging and Geriatrics Division of Biology of Aging • Herbal Extracts and Oxidative Stress, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Ca • Rhodiola rosea, Lifespan Extension and Oxidative Stress, University of Aarhua, Aarhus, Denmark. • Rhodiola rosea, Herbal Extracts and Anti-Aging, University of Duesseldorf Institut für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Duesseldorf, Germany 2009 • Adaptogenic Plants in Modern Medicine: Fact or Fiction? Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA • Using Drosophila as a Model System to Screen for Anti-Aging Compounds, San Diego State University, Department of Biology, San Diego, CA 2010 • Rhodiola rosea and Oxidative Stress, University of California at San Francisco and Pacific Medical Center Research Coordination Center, San Francisco, CA • Rhodiola rosea, Lifespan, and Health Span. National Institute of Health Longevity Consortium Symposium, Washington DC, WA 2011 • Improving Health with Plants: Science or Fiction Public Talk at The University of French Polynesia, Tahiti • Herbal Extracts, Lifespan and Health Span Department of Phytochemistry, University of French Polynesia, Tahiti |
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| Grants | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), R01 GM085251, 3/01/2009–2/28/2013, Drosophila as a Model for Chemotherapy Pharmacogenomics Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Anthony Long). | |
| Ellison Medical Foundation, AG-NS-0495-08, 08/1/2008–07/31/2012, The Role of Mitochondrial Superoxide in Aging, Role: Supervisor (PI: Samuel E. Shriner). | ||
| National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), R21 AT004987, 4/01/2010-3/31/2013, Botanicals, Mitochondrial Bioenergetics, and Aging Pathways, Role: PI. | ||
| National Cancer Institute (NCI), R21 CA152804, 03/08/2011-02/28/2013, Rhodiola Rosea Extracts, Salidroside and Bladder Cancer Chemoprevention, Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Xiaolin Zi). | ||
| Graduate Programs |
Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology Pharmacological Sciences |
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| Link to this profile | http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5313 | |
| Last updated | 09/04/2012 | |