Non-autonomy of age-related morphological changes in the <i>C. elegans</i> germline stem cell niche.

ABSTRACT: A decline in tissue renewal and repair due to changes in tissue stem cells is a hallmark of aging. Many stem cell pools are maintained by interaction with morphologically complex local niches. Using the C. elegans hermaphrodite germline stem cell system, we analyzed age-related changes in the morphology of the niche, the distal tip cell (DTC), and identified a molecular mechanism that promotes a subset of these changes. We found that a long-lived daf-2 mutant exhibits a daf-16 -dependent decline in number and length of long DTC processes. Surprisingly, the tissue requirement for daf-16(+) is non-autonomous and is independent of the longevity requirement: daf-16(+) in body wall muscle is both necessary and sufficient. We also determined that pre-formed DTC

SUBMITTER: Gupta N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12262334 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature