Electrophysiological Measures of Aging Pharynx Function in C. elegans Reveal Enhanced Organ Functionality in Older, Long-lived Mutants.

ABSTRACT: The function of the pharynx, an organ in the model system Caenorhabditis elegans, has been correlated with life span and motility (another measure of health) since 1980. In this study, in order to further understand the relationship between organ function and life span, we measured the age-related decline of the pharynx using an electrophysiological approach. We measured and analyzed electropharyngeograms (EPG) of wild type animals, short-lived hsf-1 mutants, and long-lived animals with genetically decreased insulin signaling or increased heat shock pathway signaling; we recorded a total of 2,478 EPGs from 1,374 individuals. As expected, the long-lived daf-2(e1370) and hsf-1OE(uthIs235) animals maintained pharynx function relatively closer to the youthful state during aging, whereas the hs

SUBMITTER: Russell JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6625588 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature