Intermittent Stem Cell Cycling Balances Self-Renewal and Senescence of the C. elegans Germ Line.

ABSTRACT: Self-renewing organs often experience a decline in function in the course of aging. It is unclear whether chronological age or external factors control this decline, or whether it is driven by stem cell self-renewal-for example, because cycling cells exhaust their replicative capacity and become senescent. Here we assay the relationship between stem cell cycling and senescence in the Caenorhabditis elegans reproductive system, defining this senescence as the progressive decline in "reproductive capacity," i.e. in the number of progeny that can be produced until cessation of reproduction. We show that stem cell cycling diminishes remaining reproductive capacity, at least in part through the DNA damage response. Paradoxically, gonads kept under conditions that preclude reproduction keep cycl

SUBMITTER: Cinquin A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4831802 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature