Experience Modulates the Reproductive Response to Heat Stress in C. elegans via Multiple Physiological Processes

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been a versatile model for understanding the molecular responses to abiotic stress and pathogens. In particular, the response to heat stress and virus infection has been studied in detail. The Orsay virus (OrV) is a natural virus of C. elegans and infection leads to intracellular infection and proteostatic stress, which activates the intracellular pathogen response (IPR). IPR related gene expression is regulated by the genes pals-22 and pals-25, which also control thermotolerance and immunity against other natural pathogens. So far, we have a limited understanding of the molecular responses upon the combined exposure to heat stress and virus infection. We test the hypothesis that the response of C. elegans to OrV infection and heat stress are co-regulated and may affect each other. We conducted a combined heat-stress-virus infection assay and found that after applying heat stress, the susceptibility of C. elegans to OrV was decreased. This difference was found across different wild types of C. elegans. Transcriptome analysis revealed a list of potential candidate genes associated with heat stress and OrV infection. Subsequent mutant screens suggest that pals-22 provides a link between viral response and heat stress, leading to enhanced OrV tolerance of C. elegans after heat stress.

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An integrated view of innate immune mechanisms in C. elegans

Biochemical Society Transactions ◽

10.1042/bst20210399 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Benjamin W. Harding ◽

Jonathan J. Ewbank

Keyword(s):

Innate Immune ◽

Innate Immune Responses ◽

Fully Integrated ◽

Immune Mechanisms ◽

C Elegans ◽

Cellular Processes ◽

Physiological Processes ◽

Model Animal ◽

Molecular Specificity ◽

Simple Notion

The simple notion ‘infection causes an immune response' is being progressively refined as it becomes clear that immune mechanisms cannot be understood in isolation, but need to be considered in a more global context with other cellular and physiological processes. In part, this reflects the deployment by pathogens of virulence factors that target diverse cellular processes, such as translation or mitochondrial respiration, often with great molecular specificity. It also reflects molecular cross-talk between a broad range of host signalling pathways. Studies with the model animal C. elegans have uncovered a range of examples wherein innate immune responses are intimately connected with different homeostatic mechanisms, and can influence reproduction, ageing and neurodegeneration, as well as various other aspects of its biology. Here we provide a short overview of a number of such connections, highlighting recent discoveries that further the construction of a fully integrated view of innate immunity.

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GABA receptors differentially regulate life span and health span in C. elegans through distinct downstream mechanisms

AJP Cell Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpcell.00072.2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 317 (5) ◽

pp. C953-C963 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Fengling Yuan ◽

Jiejun Zhou ◽

Lingxiu Xu ◽

Wenxin Jia ◽

Lei Chun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Span ◽

Gaba Receptors ◽

Health Span ◽

Gaba A ◽

Inhibitory Neurotransmitter ◽

C Elegans ◽

Physiological Processes ◽

Gaba Signaling ◽

Neuronal Functions

GABA, a prominent inhibitory neurotransmitter, is best known to regulate neuronal functions in the nervous system. However, much less is known about the role of GABA signaling in other physiological processes. Interestingly, recent work showed that GABA signaling can regulate life span via a metabotropic GABAB receptor in Caenorhabditis elegans. However, the role of other types of GABA receptors in life span has not been clearly defined. It is also unclear whether GABA signaling regulates health span. Here, using C. elegans as a model, we systematically interrogated the role of various GABA receptors in both life span and health span. We find that mutations in four different GABA receptors extend health span by promoting resistance to stress and pathogen infection and that two such receptor mutants also show extended life span. Different GABA receptors engage distinct transcriptional factors to regulate life span and health span, and even the same receptor regulates life span and health span via different transcription factors. Our results uncover a novel, profound role of GABA signaling in aging in C. elegans, which is mediated by different GABA receptors coupled to distinct downstream effectors.

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Chromatin accessibility is dynamically regulated across C. elegans development and ageing

10.1101/279158 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jürgen Jänes ◽

Yan Dong ◽

Michael Schoof ◽

Jacques Serizay ◽

Alex Appert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Regulatory Mechanism ◽

Regulatory Elements ◽

Chromatin Accessibility ◽

Protein Coding ◽

C Elegans ◽

Transcription Profiles ◽

Physiological Processes ◽

Global Identification ◽

Identification And Characterization

AbstractAn essential step for understanding the transcriptional circuits that control development and physiology is the global identification and characterization of regulatory elements. Here we present the first map of regulatory elements across the development and ageing of an animal, identifying 42,245 elements accessible in at least one C. elegans stage. Based on nuclear transcription profiles, we define 15,714 protein-coding promoters and 19,231 putative enhancers, and find that both types of element can drive orientation-independent transcription. Additionally, hundreds of promoters produce transcripts antisense to protein coding genes, suggesting involvement in a widespread regulatory mechanism. We find that the accessibility of most elements is regulated during development and/or ageing and that patterns of accessibility change are linked to specific developmental or physiological processes. The map and characterization of regulatory elements across C. elegans life provides a platform for understanding how transcription controls development and ageing.

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Macro-level Modeling of the Response of C. elegans Reproduction to Chronic Heat Stress

PLoS Computational Biology ◽

10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002338 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. e1002338 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Patrick D. McMullen ◽

Erin Z. Aprison ◽

Peter B. Winter ◽

Luis A. N. Amaral ◽

Richard I. Morimoto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heat Stress ◽

Macro Level ◽

C Elegans

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ESPO/ BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES SECTION SYMPOSIUM: EMERGING INSIGHTS IN INTERACTIONS AND NETWORKS IN THE BIOLOGY OF AGING DEVELOPING C. ELEGANS TO STUDY AGE-RELATED EXTRACELLULAR VESICLE SIGNALS

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.1583 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S424-S424

Author(s):

Joshua Russell ◽

Matt Kaeberlein

Keyword(s):

Biological Sciences ◽

Mammalian Cell Culture ◽

Extracellular Vesicle ◽

Model Systems ◽

C Elegans ◽

Physiological Processes ◽

Age Related ◽

Powerful Approach ◽

Invertebrate Model ◽

Biology Of Aging

Abstract All cells release vesicles into their extracellular environment. These extracellular vesicles (EVs) contain multiple classes of molecules, including nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. EV-signaling has been shown to be impacted by many age-related physiological processes such as inflammation, mitochondrial stress, and autophagy as well as directly mediate critical functions in cellular senescence and aging. The isolation and analysis of EV cargos from mammalian cell culture and liquid biopsy samples has become a powerful approach for uncovering the messages that are packaged into these organelles. Caenorhabditis elegans is a premier model for dissecting the genetics of aging however, EV analysis has not been tenable in invertebrate model systems due to lack of methods for obtaining sufficient amounts of pure EVs. We developed a method for isolating pure EVs from C. elegans with yields sufficient for mass spectrometry and RNAseq. Here we present the analysis of the genetic and protein cargos of EVs collected from wild type and long-lived mutants collected at different time points across their lifespans. As the first investigation of age-related EV signals in an invertebrate model system we believe these results will provide insights into cell non-autonomous mechanisms of aging.

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A Hot Water Extract of Sideritis scardica Prolongs Life Span and Enhances Heat Shock Resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans

Natural Product Communications ◽

10.1177/1934578x20917283 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 1934578X2091728

Author(s):

Yoshihiko Nishioka ◽

Seiya Nishikawa ◽

Toshiyuki Shibata

Keyword(s):

Heat Stress ◽

Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽

Stress Response ◽

Heat Shock ◽

Life Span ◽

Water Extract ◽

Hot Water ◽

Control Group ◽

C Elegans ◽

Hot Water Extract

Sideritis scardica is a Lamiaceae plant that is endemic to the alpine zone of the Balkan Peninsula. The tea of S. scardica has been handed down as a “tea of longevity” in the Rhodope region of Bulgaria for an unknown amount of time. In this study, we prepared a hot water extract of S. scardica (SHWE) and examined its effects on both life span and stress response in living tissue using Caenorhabditis elegans and its transgenic mutants. The life span of wild-type N2 worms was prolonged by approximately 15% at the SHWE concentration of 5 µg/mL and approximately 22% at the SHWE concentration of 50 µg/mL, as compared with the control group. The effect of SHWE on the expression of heat shock protein 16.2 (HSP-16.2) under heat stress was investigated using TJ375 worms, a transgenic mutant of C. elegans. In the TJ375 worms pretreated with SHWE, the fluorescence intensity of green fluorescent protein fluorescence, which indicates the expression of HSP-16.2, was significantly increased. In the assay using TJ356 worms, the worms pretreated with SHWE did not show the translocation of DAF-16, a forkhead transcription factor class O homolog, from the cytoplasm to nucleus under heat stress. Additionally, under heat stress, the pretreatment of SHWE improved the survival rate of GR1307 worms, a knockout mutant of daf-16. These results indicate that SHWE enhances HSP-16.2 expression through a stress-response pathway (eg, HSF-1 pathway) other than the DAF-16 pathway, resulting in a prolonged life span of C. elegans under heat stress.

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Effect of heat stress on the physiological processes of wheat

Acta Agronomica Hungarica ◽

10.1556/aagr.61.2013.1.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

K. Balla ◽

I. Karsai ◽

S. Bencze ◽

T. Kiss ◽

O. Veisz

Keyword(s):

Heat Stress ◽

Grain Filling ◽

Kernel Weight ◽

Significant Rise ◽

Antioxidant Compounds ◽

Glutathione S Transferase ◽

Yield Data ◽

Wheat Varieties ◽

Physiological Processes ◽

Response To Stress

Stress tolerance is associated with the activation of antioxidant compounds and enzyme systems that are capable of neutralising the reactive oxygen species (ROS) continually produced in response to stress. The present experiment was designed to compare the heat tolerance of four winter wheat varieties in the shooting and grain-filling stages by investigating changes detected in antioxidant enzyme activity and yield components in response to heat stress.Heat treatment was found to cause a significant rise in the activity of the glutathione-S-transferase and catalase enzymes, while there was usually a less intense decline in the activity of guaiacol peroxidase.An analysis of yield data revealed that heat stress had a more pronounced effect during grain filling in this experiment than at the beginning of shooting, as shown by the greater reduction in thousand-kernel weight and yield.

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Cold shock induces a terminal investment reproductive response in C. elegans

10.1101/2021.09.11.459896 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Leah Gulyas ◽

Jennifer R. Powell

Keyword(s):

Life History Traits ◽

Cold Shock ◽

Reproductive Investment ◽

Environmental Stressors ◽

Offspring Survival ◽

Future Studies ◽

Terminal Investment ◽

C Elegans ◽

Reproductive Response ◽

Maternal Provisioning

AbstractChallenges from environmental stressors have a profound impact on many life-history traits of an organism, including reproductive strategy. Examples across multiple taxa have demonstrated that maternal reproductive investment resulting from stress can improve offspring survival; a form of matricidal provisioning when death appears imminent is known as terminal investment. Here we report a reproductive response in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans upon exposure to acute cold shock at 2°C, whereby vitellogenic lipid movement from the soma to the germline appears to be massively upregulated at the expense of parental survival. This response is dependent on functional TAX-2;TAX-4 cGMP-gated channels that are part of canonical thermosensory mechanisms in worms and can be prevented in the presence of activated SKN-1/Nrf2, the master stress regulator. Increased maternal provisioning promotes improved embryonic cold shock survival, which is notably suppressed in animals with impaired vitellogenesis. These findings suggest that cold shock in C. elegans triggers terminal investment to promote progeny fitness at the expense of parental survival and may serve as a tractable model for future studies of stress-induced progeny plasticity.

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