scholarly journals Swim exercise in Caenorhabditis elegans extends neuromuscular and gut healthspan, enhances learning ability, and protects against neurodegeneration

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (47) ◽  
pp. 23829-23839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Laranjeiro ◽  
Girish Harinath ◽  
Jennifer E. Hewitt ◽  
Jessica H. Hartman ◽  
Mary Anne Royal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Genetic Model ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Mitochondrial Morphology ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Early Exercise ◽  
Exercise Adaptation

Regular physical exercise is the most efficient and accessible intervention known to promote healthy aging in humans. The molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate system-wide exercise benefits, however, remain poorly understood, especially as applies to tissues that do not participate directly in training activity. The establishment of exercise protocols for short-lived genetic models will be critical for deciphering fundamental mechanisms of transtissue exercise benefits to healthy aging. Here we document optimization of a long-term swim exercise protocol for Caenorhabditis elegans and we demonstrate its benefits to diverse aging tissues, even if exercise occurs only during a restricted phase of adulthood. We found that multiple daily swim sessions are essential for exercise adaptation, leading to body wall muscle improvements in structural gene expression, locomotory performance, and mitochondrial morphology. Swim exercise training enhances whole-animal health parameters, such as mitochondrial respiration and midlife survival, increases functional healthspan of the pharynx and intestine, and enhances nervous system health by increasing learning ability and protecting against neurodegeneration in models of tauopathy, Alzheimer’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. Remarkably, swim training only during early adulthood induces long-lasting systemic benefits that in several cases are still detectable well into midlife. Our data reveal the broad impact of swim exercise in promoting extended healthspan of multiple C. elegans tissues, underscore the potency of early exercise experience to influence long-term health, and establish the foundation for exploiting the powerful advantages of this genetic model for the dissection of the exercise-dependent molecular circuitry that confers system-wide health benefits to aging adults.

scholarly journals Swim exercise in C. elegans extends neuromuscular and intestinal healthspan, enhances learning ability, and protects against neurodegeneration

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Laranjeiro ◽  
Girish Harinath ◽  
Jennifer E. Hewitt ◽  
Jessica H. Hartman ◽  
Mary Anne Royal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Genetic Model ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Mitochondrial Morphology ◽  
Early Exercise ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Exercise Adaptation

AbstractExercise can protect against cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, diabetes, cancer, and age-associated declines in muscle, immune, and cognitive function. In fact, regular physical exercise is the most powerful intervention known to enhance robustness of health and aging. Still, the molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate system-wide exercise benefits remain poorly understood, especially as applies to “off target” tissues that do not participate directly in training activity. Elaborating molecular mechanisms of whole-animal exercise benefits is therefore of considerable importance to human health. The development of exercise protocols for short-lived genetic models holds great potential for deciphering fundamental mechanisms of exercise trans-tissue signaling during the entire aging process. Here, we report on the optimization of a long-term swim exercise protocol for C. elegans and we demonstrate its benefits to diverse aging tissues, even if exercise occurs only during a restricted phase during early adulthood. We found that multiple daily swim sessions are essential for exercise adaptation in C. elegans, leading to body wall muscle improvements in structural gene expression, locomotory performance, and mitochondrial morphology. Swim exercise training enhances whole-animal health parameters such as mitochondrial respiration and mid-life survival and increases the functional healthspan of pharynx and intestine. Importantly, we show that swim exercise also enhances nervous system health: exercise increases learning ability of adult animals and protects against neurodegeneration in C. elegans models of tauopathy, Alzheimer’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. An important point is that swim training only during C. elegans early adulthood induces long-lasting systemic benefits that in several cases are still detectable well into mid-life. Overall, our data reveal the broad impact of swim exercise in promoting extended healthspan of multiple C. elegans tissues, underscore the potency of early exercise experience to influence long-term health (even after cessation of exercise), and establish the foundation for exploiting the powerful advantages of this genetic model to dissect the exercise-dependent molecular circuitry that confers long-lasting system-wide health benefits to aging or diseased adults.

A Cuticle Collagen Encoded by the lon-3 Gene May Be a Target of TGF-β Signaling in Determining Caenorhabditis elegans Body Shape

Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 162 (4) ◽  
pp. 1631-1639
Author(s):  
Yo Suzuki ◽  
Gail A Morris ◽  
Min Han ◽  
William B Wood
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Body Shape ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Gene Expression Analyses ◽  
Dose Dependent

Abstract The signaling pathway initiated by the TGF-β family member DBL-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans controls body shape in a dose-dependent manner. Loss-of-function (lf) mutations in the dbl-1 gene cause a short, small body (Sma phenotype), whereas overexpression of dbl-1 causes a long body (Lon phenotype). To understand the cellular mechanisms underlying these phenotypes, we have isolated suppressors of the Sma phenotype resulting from a dbl-1(lf) mutation. Two of these suppressors are mutations in the lon-3 gene, of which four additional alleles are known. We show that lon-3 encodes a collagen that is a component of the C. elegans cuticle. Genetic and reporter-gene expression analyses suggest that lon-3 is involved in determination of body shape and is post-transcriptionally regulated by the dbl-1 pathway. These results support the possibility that TGF-β signaling controls C. elegans body shape by regulating cuticle composition.

scholarly journals Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo Model to Assess Amphetamine Tolerance

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Dayana Torres Valladares ◽  
Sirisha Kudumala ◽  
Murad Hossain ◽  
Lucia Carvelli
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Genetic Model ◽  
In Vivo Model ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
In Vitro Data

Amphetamine is a potent psychostimulant also used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. In vivo and in vitro data have demonstrated that amphetamine increases the amount of extra synaptic dopamine by both inhibiting reuptake and promoting efflux of dopamine through the dopamine transporter. Previous studies have shown that chronic use of amphetamine causes tolerance to the drug. Thus, since the molecular mechanisms underlying tolerance to amphetamine are still unknown, an animal model to identify the neurochemical mechanisms associated with drug tolerance is greatly needed. Here we took advantage of a unique behavior caused by amphetamine in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> to investigate whether this simple, but powerful, genetic model develops tolerance following repeated exposure to amphetamine. We found that at least 3 treatments with 0.5 mM amphetamine were necessary to see a reduction in the amphetamine-induced behavior and, thus, to promote tolerance. Moreover, we found that, after intervals of 60/90 minutes between treatments, animals were more likely to exhibit tolerance than animals that underwent 10-minute intervals between treatments. Taken together, our results show that <i>C. elegans</i> is a suitable system to study tolerance to drugs of abuse such as amphetamines.

scholarly journals Spectrum of variations in dog-1/FANCJ and mdf-1/MAD1 defective Caenorhabditis elegans strains after long-term propagation

BMC Genomics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Tarailo-Graovac ◽  
Tammy Wong ◽  
Zhaozhao Qin ◽  
Stephane Flibotte ◽  
Jon Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans

scholarly journals Prolonging healthy aging: Longevity vitamins and proteins

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (43) ◽  
pp. 10836-10844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce N. Ames
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pyrroloquinoline Quinone ◽  
Premature Aging ◽  
Nutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Β Carotene ◽  
Survival Proteins

It is proposed that proteins/enzymes be classified into two classes according to their essentiality for immediate survival/reproduction and their function in long-term health: that is, survival proteins versus longevity proteins. As proposed by the triage theory, a modest deficiency of one of the nutrients/cofactors triggers a built-in rationing mechanism that favors the proteins needed for immediate survival and reproduction (survival proteins) while sacrificing those needed to protect against future damage (longevity proteins). Impairment of the function of longevity proteins results in an insidious acceleration of the risk of diseases associated with aging. I also propose that nutrients required for the function of longevity proteins constitute a class of vitamins that are here named “longevity vitamins.” I suggest that many such nutrients play a dual role for both survival and longevity. The evidence for classifying taurine as a conditional vitamin, and the following 10 compounds as putative longevity vitamins, is reviewed: the fungal antioxidant ergothioneine; the bacterial metabolites pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) and queuine; and the plant antioxidant carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, α- and β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and the marine carotenoid astaxanthin. Because nutrient deficiencies are highly prevalent in the United States (and elsewhere), appropriate supplementation and/or an improved diet could reduce much of the consequent risk of chronic disease and premature aging.

Health, comfort and performance of children in classrooms – New directions for research

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1040-1050 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philomena M. Bluyssen
Keyword(s):  
School Environment ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Toxic Exposure ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
New Directions ◽  
And Performance ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Acoustic Conditions

Children spend more time in schools than in any other place except at home. Children are more susceptible than adults to effects of toxic exposure, but also to poor acoustic conditions. It is known for some time that unsatisfactory environmental conditions, can have both short-term and long-term health effects, and can affect productivity or learning ability of the children. The underlying literature study focusses on the role of the indoor school environment on the health, comfort and performance of children in classrooms. In the last decades, many studies all over the world have been performed to document the indoor environment in classrooms and to examine relations with diseases and disorders. An inventory is made of these studies, major identified issues are discussed and ‘new’ directions of research are proposed. It is concluded that new generation research studies should be focussed on engagement of the children in an active way, preferable in semi-lab environments, and taking account of all aspects and interactions between them.

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