Project description:Temperature is a prominent environmental stimulus that influences life span. Previous studies indicate that in Caenorhabditis elegans, thermosensory perception in the AFD neuron maintains life span at warm temperatures. How thermosensation is translated into neuronal signals that shape aging remains elusive. We found that the Caenorhabditis elegans CREB crh-1, as well as several key genes in AFD thermosensory transduction, were specifically required for normal life span at warm temperatures. crh-1 acted in the AFD to increase transcription of the CRE-containing neuropeptide gene flp-6 in a temperature-dependent manner. Both crh-1 and flp-6 were necessary and sufficient for longevity at warm temperatures, and their effects depended on the AIY interneuron. Moreover, flp-6 signaling downregulated ins-7/insulin and several insulin pathway genes, whose activity compromised life span. We postulate that temperature experience is integrated in the thermosensory neurons to generate CREB-dependent neuropeptide signals that antagonize insulin signaling and promote temperature-specific longevity.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in early generation Caenorhabditis elegans Bristol N2 prg-1 and Bristol N2 prg-1; daf-2 double mutant, compared to late-generation strains. A seven chip study using total RNA recovered from three separate alleles of Caenorhabditis elegans Bristol N2 prg-1 and four separate allelic combinations of a double mutant strain, Bristol N2 prg-1; daf-2 , in which prg-1 (pk2298) and prg-1 (tm872) are combined with one of three daf-2 alleles (e1368, 1370, m41).
Project description:The determination of molecular pathways that are affected with age and lead to increased disease susceptibility is crucial. The nematode has proven an ideal experimental model to study ageing due to significantly conserved genes governing ageing throughout species. Profiling of gene expression levels in ageing wt Caenorhabditis elegans, utilizing a robust Affymetrix microarray platform, resulted in the identification of age-dependent gene expression alterations that characterize the nematode's ageing process. We used Affymetrix microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression underlying ageing and identified distinct classes of up- or down-regulated genes during this process.