scholarly journals Lack of Peroxisomal Catalase Causes a Progeric Phenotype inCaenorhabditis elegans

2004 ◽  
Vol 279 (19) ◽  
pp. 19996-20001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleh I. Petriv ◽  
Richard A. Rachubinski

Studies using the nematodeCaenorhabditis elegansas a model system to investigate the aging process have implicated the insulin/insulin-like growth factor-I signaling pathway in the regulation of organismal longevity through its action on a subset of target genes. These targets can be classified into genes that shorten or extend life-span upon their induction. Genes that shorten life-span include a variety of stress response genes, among them genes encoding catalases; however, no evidence directly implicates catalases in the aging process of nematodes or other organisms. Using genetic mutants, we show that lack of peroxisomal catalase CTL-2 causes a progeric phenotype inC. elegans. Lack of peroxisomal catalase also affects the developmental program ofC. elegans, since Δctl-2mutants exhibit decreased egg laying capacity. In contrast, lack of cytosolic catalase CTL-1 has no effect on either nematode aging or egg laying capacity. The Δctl-2mutation also shortens the maximum life-span of the long lived Δclk-1mutant and accelerates the onset of its egg laying period. The more rapid aging of Δctl-2worms is apparently not due to increased carbonylation of the majorC. elegansproteins, although altered peroxisome morphology in the Δctl-2mutant suggests that changes in peroxisomal function, including increased production of reactive oxygen species, underlie the progeric phenotype of the Δctl-2mutant. Our findings support an important role for peroxisomal catalase in both the development and aging ofC. elegansand suggest the utility of the Δctl-2mutant as a convenient model for the study of aging and the human diseases acatalasemia and hypocatalasemia.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Goyala ◽  
Aiswarya Baruah ◽  
Arnab Mukhopadhyay

AbstractDietary restriction (DR) increases life span and improves health in most model systems tested, including non-human primates. In C. elegans, as in other models, DR leads to reprogramming of metabolism, improvements in mitochondrial health, large changes in gene expression, including increase in expression of cytoprotective genes, better proteostasis etc. Understandably, multiple global transcriptional regulators like transcription factors FOXO/DAF-16, FOXA/PHA-4, HSF1/HSF-1 and NRF2/SKN-1 are important for DR longevity. Considering the wide-ranging effects of p53 on organismal biology, we asked whether the C. elegans ortholog, CEP-1 is required for DR-mediated longevity assurance. We employed the widely-used TJ1 strain of cep-1(gk138). We show that cep-1(gk138) suppresses the life span extension of two genetic paradigms of DR, but two non-genetic modes of DR remain unaffected in this strain. We find that in cep-1(gk138), two aspects of DR, increased autophagy and the up-regulation of expression of cytoprotective xenobiotic detoxification program (cXDP) genes are dampened. Importantly, we find that background mutation(s) in the strain may be the actual cause for the phenotypic differences that we observed and cep-1 may not be directly involved in genetic DR-mediated longevity assurance in worms. Identifying these mutation(s) may reveal a novel regulator of longevity required specifically by genetic modes of DR.


Science ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 300 (5619) ◽  
pp. 644-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Lee
Keyword(s):  

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Back ◽  
Bart P. Braeckman ◽  
Filip Matthijssens

Many insights into the mechanisms and signaling pathways underlying aging have resulted from research on the nematodeCaenorhabditis elegans. In this paper, we discuss the recent findings that emerged using this model organism concerning the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the aging process. The accrual of oxidative stress and damage has been the predominant mechanistic explanation for the process of aging for many years, but reviewing the recent studies inC. eleganscalls this theory into question. Thus, it becomes more and more evident that ROS are not merely toxic byproducts of the oxidative metabolism. Rather it seems more likely that tightly controlled concentrations of ROS and fluctuations in redox potential are important mediators of signaling processes. We therefore discuss some theories that explain how redox signaling may be involved in aging and provide some examples of ROS functions and signaling inC. elegansmetabolism. To understand the role of ROS and the redox status in physiology, stress response, development, and aging, there is a rising need for accurate and reversiblein vivodetection. Therefore, we comment on some methods of ROS and redox detection with emphasis on the implementation of genetically encoded biosensors inC. elegans.


eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanan Sun ◽  
Meijiao Li ◽  
Dongfeng Zhao ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Chonglin Yang ◽  
...  

Lysosomes play important roles in cellular degradation to maintain cell homeostasis. In order to understand whether and how lysosomes alter with age and contribute to lifespan regulation, we characterized multiple properties of lysosomes during the aging process in C. elegans. We uncovered age-dependent alterations in lysosomal morphology, motility, acidity and degradation activity, all of which indicate a decline in lysosome function with age. The age-associated lysosomal changes are suppressed in the long-lived mutants daf-2, eat-2 and isp-1, which extend lifespan by inhibiting insulin/IGF-1 signaling, reducing food intake and impairing mitochondrial function, respectively. We found that 43 lysosome genes exhibit reduced expression with age, including genes encoding subunits of the proton pump V-ATPase and cathepsin proteases. The expression of lysosome genes is upregulated in the long-lived mutants, and this upregulation requires the functions of DAF-16/FOXO and SKN-1/NRF2 transcription factors. Impairing lysosome function affects clearance of aggregate-prone proteins and disrupts lifespan extension in daf-2, eat-2 and isp-1 worms. Our data indicate that lysosome function is modulated by multiple longevity pathways and is important for lifespan extension.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0241478
Author(s):  
Anita Goyala ◽  
Aiswarya Baruah ◽  
Arnab Mukhopadhyay

Dietary restriction (DR) increases life span and improves health in most model systems tested, including non-human primates. In C. elegans, as in other models, DR leads to reprogramming of metabolism, improvements in mitochondrial health, large changes in expression of cytoprotective genes and better proteostasis. Understandably, multiple global transcriptional regulators like transcription factors FOXO/DAF-16, FOXA/PHA-4, HSF1/HSF-1 and NRF2/SKN-1 are important for DR longevity. Considering the wide-ranging effects of p53 on organismal biology, we asked whether the C. elegans ortholog, CEP-1 is required for DR-mediated longevity assurance. We employed the widely-used TJ1 strain of cep-1(gk138). We show that cep-1(gk138) suppresses the life span extension of two genetic paradigms of DR, but two non-genetic modes of DR remain unaffected in this strain. We find that two aspects of DR, increased autophagy and up-regulation of the expression of cytoprotective xenobiotic detoxification program (cXDP) genes, are dampened in cep-1(gk138). Importantly, we find that background mutation(s) in the strain may be the actual cause for the phenotypic differences that we observed and cep-1 may not be directly involved in genetic DR-mediated longevity assurance in worms. Identifying these mutation(s) may reveal a novel regulator of longevity required specifically by genetic modes of DR.


Cell ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 125 (6) ◽  
pp. 1165-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ala Berdichevsky ◽  
Mohan Viswanathan ◽  
H. Robert Horvitz ◽  
Leonard Guarente
Keyword(s):  

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1758) ◽  
pp. 20170368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yee Lian Chew ◽  
Laura J. Grundy ◽  
André E. X. Brown ◽  
Isabel Beets ◽  
William R. Schafer

Neuropeptide signalling has been implicated in a wide variety of biological processes in diverse organisms, from invertebrates to humans. The Caenorhabditis elegans genome has at least 154 neuropeptide precursor genes, encoding over 300 bioactive peptides. These neuromodulators are thought to largely signal beyond ‘wired’ chemical/electrical synapse connections, therefore creating a ‘wireless’ network for neuronal communication. Here, we investigated how behavioural states are affected by neuropeptide signalling through the G protein-coupled receptor SEB-3, which belongs to a bilaterian family of orphan secretin receptors. Using reverse pharmacology, we identified the neuropeptide NLP-49 as a ligand of this evolutionarily conserved neuropeptide receptor. Our findings demonstrate novel roles for NLP-49 and SEB-3 in locomotion, arousal and egg-laying. Specifically, high-content analysis of locomotor behaviour indicates that seb-3 and nlp-49 deletion mutants cause remarkably similar abnormalities in movement dynamics, which are reversed by overexpression of wild-type transgenes. Overexpression of NLP-49 in AVK interneurons leads to heightened locomotor arousal, an effect that is dependent on seb-3. Finally, seb-3 and nlp-49 mutants also show constitutive egg-laying in liquid medium and alter the temporal pattern of egg-laying in similar ways. Together, these results provide in vivo evidence that NLP-49 peptides act through SEB-3 to modulate behaviour, and highlight the importance of neuropeptide signalling in the control of behavioural states. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Connectome to behaviour: modelling C. elegans at cellular resolution’.


Development ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 128 (15) ◽  
pp. 2857-2865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Johnson ◽  
Daniel Fitzsimmons ◽  
James Hagman ◽  
Helen M. Chamberlin

The Pax gene egl-38 plays an important role in the development of several organs in C. elegans. To understand how a Pax transcription factor influences distinct developmental choices in different cells and tissue types, we have characterized a second gene, lin-48. lin-48 functions with egl-38 in the development of one structure, the hindgut, but not in other tissues such as the egg-laying system. We show that lin-48 encodes a C2H2 zinc-finger protein that is similar to the product of the Drosophila gene ovo and is expressed in the hindgut cells that develop abnormally in lin-48 mutants. We present evidence that lin-48 is a target for EGL-38 in hindgut cells. We show that lin-48 requires egl-38 for its expression in the hindgut. Using deletion analysis, we have identified two elements in the lin-48 promoter that are necessary for lin-48 expression. We demonstrate that EGL-38 binds with high affinity to one of these elements. In addition, we have observed genetic interactions between mutations in the lin-48 promoter and specific alleles of egl-38. These experiments demonstrate a functional link between Pax and Ovo transcription factors, and provide a model for how Pax transcription factors can regulate different target genes in different cells.


Author(s):  
Liam C Hunt ◽  
Fabio Demontis

Abstract Metabolic adaptations occur with aging but the significance and causal roles of such changes are only partially known. In Drosophila, we find that skeletal muscle aging is paradoxically characterized by increased readouts of glycolysis (lactate, NADH/NAD+) but reduced expression of most glycolytic enzymes. This conundrum is explained by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), an enzyme necessary for anaerobic glycolysis and whose expression increases with aging. Experimental Ldh overexpression in skeletal muscle of young flies increases glycolysis and shortens life span, suggesting that age-related increases in muscle LDH contribute to mortality. Similar results are also found with overexpression of other glycolytic enzymes (Pfrx/PFKFB, Pgi/GPI). Conversely, hypomorphic mutations in Ldh extend life span, whereas reduction in PFK, Pglym78/PGAM, Pgi/GPI, and Ald/ALDO levels shorten life span to various degrees, indicating that glycolysis needs to be tightly controlled for optimal aging. Altogether, these findings indicate a role for muscle LDH and glycolysis in aging.


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