Project Grant R01NS145291

Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) awarded the Regents of the University of Michigan a Project Grant totaling $602,506 on June 12, 2026, under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders program (CFDA 93.853). The award supports research focused on characterizing somatic numtogenesis—the integration of mitochondrial DNA fragments into nuclear DNA—with particular emphasis on studying nuclear mitochondrial insertions (NUMTs) in the human cerebral cortex. The research will deliver improved sequencing methodologies to detect NUMTs, comparative tissue analyses to map NUMT distribution across different tissue types, and functional investigations examining how these insertions affect gene expression and DNA structure.

The project, scheduled for completion by March 31, 2031, aims to establish a mechanistic model explaining how somatic genomic variation occurs and impacts cellular function at the tissue level. Preliminary findings by the research team suggest a potential association between cortical NUMTs and earlier mortality, indicating possible roles in aging and neurological function. By advancing detection and characterization techniques beyond the limitations of short-read sequencing technologies, this research will contribute foundational knowledge regarding the functional consequences of mitochondrial-to-nuclear DNA transfer in human aging and brain-related diseases.