Genes that act downstream of DAF-16 to influence the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans

Coleen T. Murphy, Steven A. McCarroll, Cornelia I. Bargmann, Andrew Fraser, Ravi S. Kamath, Julie Ahringer, Hao Li, Cynthia Kenyon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1698 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ageing is a fundamental, unsolved mystery in biology. DAF-16, a FOXO-family transcription factor, influences the rate of ageing of Caenorhabditis elegans in response to insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I) signalling. Using DNA microarray analysis, we have found that DAF-16 affects expression of a set of genes during early adulthood, the time at which this pathway is known to control ageing. Here we find that many of these genes influence the ageing process. The insulin/IGF-I pathway functions cell non-autonomously to regulate lifespan, and our findings suggest that it signals other cells, at least in part, by feedback regulation of an insulin/IGF-I homologue. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the insulin/IGF-I pathway ultimately exerts its effect on lifespan by upregulating a wide variety of genes, including cellular stress-response, antimicrobial and metabolic genes, and by downregulating specific life-shortening genes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)277-284
Number of pages8
JournalNature
Volume424
Issue number6946
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 17 2003
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

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