Project description:Intermittent fasting (IF), a dietary restriction regimen, extends the lifespans of C. elegans and mammals by inducing gene expression changes. How fasting induces gene expression changes and longevity remains unclear. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs (approximately 22 nucleotides) that repress gene expression, and the expression of several miRNAs has been reported to be altered by fasting. In this study, we examined the role of the miRNA machinery in fasting-induced transcriptional changes and longevity in C. elegans. Our miRNA array analyses revealed that the expression levels of numerous miRNAs changed in adult worms after 48 hours of fasting. In addition to these changes, miRNA-mediated silencing complex (miRISC) components, including Argonaute proteins and GW182 proteins, and the miRNA-processing enzyme Drosha/DRSH-1, were up-regulated by fasting. Our lifespan measurements demonstrated that IF-induced longevity was suppressed by knockout or knockdown of miRISC components and was completely inhibited by drsh-1 ablation. Remarkably, drsh-1 ablation inhibited the fasting-induced changes in the expression of the target genes of DAF-16, the insulin/IGF-1 signaling effector. Fasting-induced transcriptome alterations were substantially and modestly suppressed in the drsh-1 null mutant and the null mutant of ain-1, a gene encoding GW182, respectively. These results indicate that components of the miRNA machinery, especially the miRNA-processing enzyme Drosha, play an important role in mediating IF-induced longevity via the regulation of fasting-induced gene expression changes. To validate the involvement of drsh-1, ain-1 and daf-16 in fasting-induced gene expression changes, we compared the induction rates of all genes in the mutants with the induction rates of all genes in WT worms
Project description:Intermittent fasting (IF), a dietary restriction regimen, extends the lifespans of C. elegans and mammals by inducing gene expression changes. How fasting induces gene expression changes and longevity remains unclear. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs (approximately 22 nucleotides) that repress gene expression, and the expression of several miRNAs has been reported to be altered by fasting. In this study, we examined the role of the miRNA machinery in fasting-induced transcriptional changes and longevity in C. elegans. Our miRNA array analyses revealed that the expression levels of numerous miRNAs changed in adult worms after 48 hours of fasting. In addition to these changes, miRNA-mediated silencing complex (miRISC) components, including Argonaute proteins and GW182 proteins, and the miRNA-processing enzyme Drosha/DRSH-1, were up-regulated by fasting. Our lifespan measurements demonstrated that IF-induced longevity was suppressed by knockout or knockdown of miRISC components and was completely inhibited by drsh-1 ablation. Remarkably, drsh-1 ablation inhibited the fasting-induced changes in the expression of the target genes of DAF-16, the insulin/IGF-1 signaling effector. Fasting-induced transcriptome alterations were substantially and modestly suppressed in the drsh-1 null mutant and the null mutant of ain-1, a gene encoding GW182, respectively. These results indicate that components of the miRNA machinery, especially the miRNA-processing enzyme Drosha, play an important role in mediating IF-induced longevity via the regulation of fasting-induced gene expression changes. To examine the fasting-induced changes in miRNA expression in adult worms, we performed miRNA array experiments.
Project description:Cholesterol has attracted significant attention as a possible lifespan regulator. It has been reported that serum cholesterol levels have an impact on mortality due to age-related disorders such as cardiovascular disease. Diet is also known to be an important lifespan regulator. Dietary restriction retards the onset of age-related diseases and extends lifespan in various organisms. Although cholesterol and dietary restriction are known to be lifespan regulators, it remains to be established whether cholesterol is involved in dietary restriction-induced longevity. Here, we show that cholesterol deprivation suppresses longevity induced by intermittent fasting, which is one of the dietary restriction regimens that effectively extend lifespan. We also found that cholesterol is required for the fasting-induced upregulation of transcriptional target genes such as the insulin/IGF-1 pathway effector DAF-16 and that cholesterol deprivation suppresses the long lifespan of the insulin/IGF-1 receptor daf-2 mutant. Remarkably, we found that cholesterol plays an important role in the fasting-induced nuclear accumulation of DAF-16. Moreover, knockdown of the cholesterol-binding protein NSBP-1, which has been shown to bind to DAF-16 in a cholesterol-dependent manner and to regulate DAF-16 activity, suppresses both fasting-induced longevity and DAF-16 nuclear accumulation. Furthermore, this suppression was not additive to the cholesterol deprivation-induced suppression, which suggests that NSBP-1 mediates, at least in part, the action of cholesterol to promote fasting-induced longevity and DAF-16 nuclear accumulation. These findings identify a novel role for cholesterol in the regulation of lifespan. Two independent replicates were performed. Total RNA was extracted with TRIzol (Invitrogen). The extracted RNA was purified with PureLink RNA Micro Kit (Invitrogen) and analyzed with Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer to assess the RNA integrity. The microarray procedures were performed according to Affymetrix protocols. Hybridized arrays were scanned using an Affymetrix GeneChip Scanner.
Project description:Cholesterol has attracted significant attention as a possible lifespan regulator. It has been reported that serum cholesterol levels have an impact on mortality due to age-related disorders such as cardiovascular disease. Diet is also known to be an important lifespan regulator. Dietary restriction retards the onset of age-related diseases and extends lifespan in various organisms. Although cholesterol and dietary restriction are known to be lifespan regulators, it remains to be established whether cholesterol is involved in dietary restriction-induced longevity. Here, we show that cholesterol deprivation suppresses longevity induced by intermittent fasting, which is one of the dietary restriction regimens that effectively extend lifespan. We also found that cholesterol is required for the fasting-induced upregulation of transcriptional target genes such as the insulin/IGF-1 pathway effector DAF-16 and that cholesterol deprivation suppresses the long lifespan of the insulin/IGF-1 receptor daf-2 mutant. Remarkably, we found that cholesterol plays an important role in the fasting-induced nuclear accumulation of DAF-16. Moreover, knockdown of the cholesterol-binding protein NSBP-1, which has been shown to bind to DAF-16 in a cholesterol-dependent manner and to regulate DAF-16 activity, suppresses both fasting-induced longevity and DAF-16 nuclear accumulation. Furthermore, this suppression was not additive to the cholesterol deprivation-induced suppression, which suggests that NSBP-1 mediates, at least in part, the action of cholesterol to promote fasting-induced longevity and DAF-16 nuclear accumulation. These findings identify a novel role for cholesterol in the regulation of lifespan.