By Charles Craig

LifeSpan BioSciences Inc., a Seattle start-up genomics firm, is combing diseased human tissues for gene expression patterns to identify molecules that may be responsible for triggering a variety of age-related disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis and cancer.

The company, founded in 1995, completed a first-round, "multimillion dollar" equity financing. The specific amount of money raised and the identity of the investors were not disclosed.

LifeSpan's president and CEO, Joseph Brown, said the company targets genes and proteins that play a role in aging and that may be the triggering mechanisms for diseases associated with growing old.

For example, Brown noted, genetic diseases such as Werner's syndrome and progeria (Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome) accelerate aging in nearly all organs of the body. Victims, at a young age, develop disorders normally common to much older adults.

"Clearly there are mechanisms in a limited number of genes causing all these age-related diseases," Brown said.

The idea then is to find genes and their proteins responsible for the progressive deterioration of tissues in order to hold at bay diseases that take advantage of those weakened conditions.

LifeSpan, Brown said, has assembled a library of 100,000 diseased human tissue samples and is comparing gene expression levels in those cells with levels in healthy cells.

"There are three classes of gene expression levels," Brown explained, "high, medium and low abundance. We're as interested in the low level, where you may have one molecule expressed, as we are in the high level, where 1,000 copies are expressed."

Differences in expression patterns could involve genes that are either switched on or off in diseased cells. Once key genes are identified the next step is understanding their functions and selecting molecular targets for drug intervention.

Although LifeSpan is focusing on aging-related genes, Brown said the company's technology for gene discovery, called Gene High-Throughput Reduction, also can be applied to finding genes and other genetic targets involved in specific diseases.

LifeSpan expects to use its technology and information to form drug development collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Brown, a former vice president of oncology research at Bristol-Myers Squibb, of New York, said LifeSpan is zeroing in on some aging-related genes and is in partnering negotiations.

He founded LifeSpan along with Glenna Burmer, chief scientific officer, and Anthony White, chief financial officer.

LifeSpan recently moved into laboratory facilities in Seattle and has a staff of 20 scientists.

Two other U.S. companies tackling the genetics of aging are Geron Corp., of Menlo Park, Calif., and Jouvence Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego. *