1
|
Hernández-Cruz EY, Aparicio-Trejo OE, Eugenio-Pérez D, Juárez-Peredo E, Zurita-León M, Valdés VJ, Pedraza-Chaverri J. Sulforaphane Exposure Prevents Cadmium-Induced Toxicity and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans by Regulating the Insulin/Insulin-like Growth Factor Signaling (IIS) Pathway. Antioxidants (Basel) 2024; 13:584. [PMID: 38790689 PMCID: PMC11117759 DOI: 10.3390/antiox13050584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2024] [Revised: 05/05/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal that is highly toxic to humans and animals. Its adverse effects have been widely associated with mitochondrial alterations. However, there are not many treatments that target mitochondria. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of sulforaphane (SFN) pre-exposure against cadmium chloride (CdCl2)-induced toxicity and mitochondrial alterations in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), by exploring the role of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway (IIS). The results revealed that prior exposure to SFN protected against CdCl2-induced mortality and increased lifespan, body length, and mobility while reducing lipofuscin levels. Furthermore, SFN prevented mitochondrial alterations by increasing mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) and restoring mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate, thereby decreasing mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. The improvement in mitochondrial function was associated with increased mitochondrial mass and the involvement of the daf-16 and skn-1c genes of the IIS signaling pathway. In conclusion, exposure to SFN before exposure to CdCl2 mitigates toxic effects and mitochondrial alterations, possibly by increasing mitochondrial mass, which may be related to the regulation of the IIS pathway. These discoveries open new possibilities for developing therapies to reduce the damage caused by Cd toxicity and oxidative stress in biological systems, highlighting antioxidants with mitochondrial action as promising tools.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Estefani Yaquelin Hernández-Cruz
- Laboratorio F-315, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico; (E.Y.H.-C.); (D.E.-P.); (E.J.-P.)
- Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Omar Emiliano Aparicio-Trejo
- Departamento de Fisiopatología Cardio-Renal, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología “Ignacio Chávez”, Mexico City 14080, Mexico;
| | - Dianelena Eugenio-Pérez
- Laboratorio F-315, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico; (E.Y.H.-C.); (D.E.-P.); (E.J.-P.)
- Posgrado en Ciencias Bioquímicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Biochemical Sciences, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Elí Juárez-Peredo
- Laboratorio F-315, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico; (E.Y.H.-C.); (D.E.-P.); (E.J.-P.)
| | - Mariana Zurita-León
- Departamento de Biología y Desarrollo Celular, Instituto de Fisiología Celular (IFC), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico; (M.Z.-L.); (V.J.V.)
| | - Víctor Julián Valdés
- Departamento de Biología y Desarrollo Celular, Instituto de Fisiología Celular (IFC), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico; (M.Z.-L.); (V.J.V.)
| | - José Pedraza-Chaverri
- Laboratorio F-315, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico; (E.Y.H.-C.); (D.E.-P.); (E.J.-P.)
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Mendenhall AR, Lithgow GJ, Kim S, Friedman D, Newell-Stamper BL, Johnson TE. Career Retrospective: Tom Johnson-Genetics, Genomics, Stress, Stochastic Variation, and Aging. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2021; 76:e85-e91. [PMID: 33609361 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glab050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander R Mendenhall
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.,University of Washington Nathan Shock Center for Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | | | - Stuart Kim
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University Medical Center, California, USA
| | - David Friedman
- Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, USA
| | | | - Thomas E Johnson
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.,University of Colorado, Institute for Behavioral Genetics, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Weadick CJ, Sommer RJ. Unexpected sex-specific post-reproductive lifespan in the free-living nematode Pristionchus exspectatus. Evol Dev 2017; 18:297-307. [PMID: 27870213 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Patterns of senescence (or aging) can vary among life history traits and between the sexes, providing an opportunity to study variation in the aging process within a single species. We previously found that females of the nematode Pristionchus exspectatus outlive males by a substantial margin under laboratory conditions. Here, we show that sex-specific reproductive senescence unfolds in the opposite direction in this species, resulting in a prolonged period of female-specific post-reproductive survival: females lost the ability to reproduce at approximately 4.7 weeks despite a median lifespan of about 12.3 weeks under lab conditions, whereas males lost the ability to reproduce at approximately 6.6 weeks, roughly in line with their median lifespan of around 7.6 weeks. Interestingly, somatic senescence (declining crawling speed) only explained reproductive senescence in males, whereas females lost the ability to reproduce regardless of condition. However, we found that housing females with males significantly increased their mortality rate, indicating that female-specific post-reproductive survival is unlikely to occur in the wild. We discuss our results in light of evolutionary theories of post-reproductive survival and previous studies of nematode behavioral ecology, arguing that premature reproductive senescence may stem from sex-specific condition-dependent survival during the reproductive period. Given the proven lab tractability of Prisitonchus nematodes, our findings provide a foundation for integrative research that combines evolutionary ecology and molecular genetics in the study of sex-specific senescence and post-reproductive survival.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cameron J Weadick
- Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Spemmanstraße 37, Tübingen, 72076, Germany
| | - Ralf J Sommer
- Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Spemmanstraße 37, Tübingen, 72076, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Mallard F, Le Bourlot V, Tully T. An automated image analysis system to measure and count organisms in laboratory microcosms. PLoS One 2013; 8:e64387. [PMID: 23734199 PMCID: PMC3667193 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2013] [Accepted: 04/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
1. Because of recent technological improvements in the way computer and digital camera perform, the potential use of imaging for contributing to the study of communities, populations or individuals in laboratory microcosms has risen enormously. However its limited use is due to difficulties in the automation of image analysis. 2. We present an accurate and flexible method of image analysis for detecting, counting and measuring moving particles on a fixed but heterogeneous substrate. This method has been specifically designed to follow individuals, or entire populations, in experimental laboratory microcosms. It can be used in other applications. 3. The method consists in comparing multiple pictures of the same experimental microcosm in order to generate an image of the fixed background. This background is then used to extract, measure and count the moving organisms, leaving out the fixed background and the motionless or dead individuals. 4. We provide different examples (springtails, ants, nematodes, daphnia) to show that this non intrusive method is efficient at detecting organisms under a wide variety of conditions even on faintly contrasted and heterogeneous substrates. 5. The repeatability and reliability of this method has been assessed using experimental populations of the Collembola Folsomia candida. 6. We present an ImageJ plugin to automate the analysis of digital pictures of laboratory microcosms. The plugin automates the successive steps of the analysis and recursively analyses multiple sets of images, rapidly producing measurements from a large number of replicated microcosms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- François Mallard
- CNRS/UPMC/ENS, Écologie et Évolution, UMR 7625, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
| | - Vincent Le Bourlot
- CNRS/UPMC/ENS, Écologie et Évolution, UMR 7625, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
- CERES - ERTI, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
| | - Thomas Tully
- CNRS/UPMC/ENS, Écologie et Évolution, UMR 7625, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
- ESPE de Paris, Université Paris 4 - Sorbonne, Paris, France
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Downes JC, Birsoy B, Chipman KC, Rothman JH. Handedness of a motor program in C. elegans is independent of left-right body asymmetry. PLoS One 2012; 7:e52138. [PMID: 23300601 PMCID: PMC3531390 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2012] [Accepted: 11/14/2012] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Complex animals display bilaterally asymmetric motor behavior, or "motor handedness," often revealed by preferential use of limbs on one side. For example, use of right limbs is dominant in a strong majority of humans. While the mechanisms that establish bilateral asymmetry in motor function are unknown in humans, they appear to be distinct from those for other handedness asymmetries, including bilateral visceral organ asymmetry, brain laterality, and ocular dominance. We report here that a simple, genetically homogeneous animal comprised of only ~1000 somatic cells, the nematode C. elegans, also shows a distinct motor handedness preference: on a population basis, males show a pronounced right-hand turning bias during mating. The handedness bias persists through much of adult lifespan, suggesting that, as in more complex animals, it is an intrinsic trait of each individual, which can differ from the population mean. Our observations imply that the laterality of motor handedness preference in C. elegans is driven by epigenetic factors rather than by genetic variation. The preference for right-hand turns is also seen in animals with mirror-reversed anatomical handedness and is not attributable to stochastic asymmetric loss of male sensory rays that occurs by programmed cell death. As with C. elegans, we also observed a substantial handedness bias, though not necessarily the same preference in direction, in several gonochoristic Caenorhabditis species. These findings indicate that the independence of bilaterally asymmetric motor dominance from overall anatomical asymmetry, and a population-level tendency away from ambidexterity, occur even in simple invertebrates, suggesting that these may be common features of bilaterian metazoans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joanna C. Downes
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America
| | - Bilge Birsoy
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America
| | - Kyle C. Chipman
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America
| | - Joel H. Rothman
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Terminal investment: individual reproduction of ant queens increases with age. PLoS One 2012; 7:e35201. [PMID: 22509399 PMCID: PMC3324418 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2012] [Accepted: 03/13/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The pattern of age-specific fecundity is a key component of the life history of organisms and shapes their ecology and evolution. In numerous animals, including humans, reproductive performance decreases with age. Here, we demonstrate that some social insect queens exhibit the opposite pattern. Egg laying rates of Cardiocondyla obscurior ant queens increased with age until death, even when the number of workers caring for them was kept constant. Cardiocondyla, and probably also other ants, therefore resemble the few select organisms with similar age-specific reproductive investment, such as corals, sturgeons, or box turtles (e.g., [1]), but they differ in being more short-lived and lacking individual, though not social, indeterminate growth. Furthermore, in contrast to most other organisms, in which average life span declines with increasing reproductive effort, queens with high egg laying rates survived as long as less fecund queens.
Collapse
|
7
|
Chen J, Senturk D, Wang JL, Müller HG, Carey JR, Caswell H, Caswell-Chen EP. A demographic analysis of the fitness cost of extended longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2007; 62:126-35. [PMID: 17339638 PMCID: PMC2398707 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/62.2.126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We monitored survival and reproduction of 1000 individuals of Caenorhabditis elegans wild type (N2) and 800 individuals of clk-1 and daf-2, and used biodemographic analysis to address fitness as the integrative consequence of the entire age-specific schedules of survival and reproduction. Relative to N2, the mutants clk-1 and daf-2 extended average life span by 27% and 111%, respectively, but reduced net reproductive rate by 44% and 18%. The net result of differences in survival and fertility was a significant differential in fitness, with both clk-1 (lambda = 2.74) and daf-2 (lambda = 3.78) at a disadvantage relative to N2 (lambda = 3.85). Demographic life table response experiment (LTRE) analysis revealed that the fitness differentials were due to negative effects in mutants on reproduction in the first 6-7 days of life. Fitness costs in clk-1 and daf-2 of C. elegans are consistent with the theory of antagonistic pleiotropy for the evolution of senescence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jianjun Chen
- Department of Nematology, University of California, Davis
| | - Damla Senturk
- Department of Statistics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
| | | | | | - James R. Carey
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis
- Center for the Economics and Demography of Aging, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Hal Caswell
- Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
| | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Chen J, Lewis E, Carey J, Caswell H, Caswell-Chen E. The ecology and biodemography of Caenorhabditis elegans. Exp Gerontol 2006; 41:1059-65. [PMID: 16963216 PMCID: PMC2386673 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2006.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2006] [Revised: 07/13/2006] [Accepted: 07/17/2006] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a well-known model organism for research on aging and life span, but very little is known about its ecology and natural history. The strain N2 is the standard wild-type C. elegans and arose from the progeny of a single hermaphrodite. Since N2 has passed through laboratory culture, the influence of inadvertent selection and genetic drift on C. elegans strains kept in culture is unclear. Because it seems that other wild-type strains have also been subject to lengthy laboratory culture, the life span and biodemography of wild-caught C. elegans is of interest. We recovered C. elegans from snails (Helix aspersa) in ca. 50% of the California locations where we made collections. In experiments with one of the wild-caught isolates, it differed in important demographic properties, mortality, fertility, fitness, and activity patterns, from the standard N2 strain, when both strains were evaluated in a common laboratory environment. The differences were not only statistically significant; they were also large enough to be biologically important. The differences are consistent with the hypothesis that N2 has adapted to laboratory conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J. Chen
- Department of Nematology, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - E.E. Lewis
- Department of Nematology and Department of Entomology, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - J.R. Carey
- Department of Entomology, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA
- Center for the Economics and Demography of Aging, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Hal Caswell
- Biology Department MS-34, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
| | - E.P. Caswell-Chen
- Department of Nematology, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 530 752 3659. E-mail address: (E.P. Caswell-Chen)
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Doblhammer G, Oeppen J. Reproduction and longevity among the British peerage: the effect of frailty and health selection. Proc Biol Sci 2003; 270:1541-7. [PMID: 12908973 PMCID: PMC1691410 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 120] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Whether a cost of reproduction exists among humans is still questionable. A major study of aristocratic British families finds a significant positive correlation between parity and late-life mortality, which indicates a trade-off between reproduction and longevity. This result is supported by four other studies, while earlier studies have not found a relationship or came to the opposite conclusion. We show that in natural fertility populations the relationship between fertility and late-life mortality cannot be studied correctly without considering the effects of differences in health and of mortality selection during childbearing ages because these two effects lead to a dampening of the true relationship. If these effects are controlled in Hollingsworth's genealogy of the British peerage a significant trade-off between reproduction and longevity exists for females but not for males.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Doblhammer
- Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Konrad-Zuse-Strasse 1, 18057 Rostock, Germany.
| | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Abstract
BACKGROUND Numerous gerontogene mutants leading to dramatic life extensions have been identified in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans over the last 20 years. Analysis of these mutants has provided a basis for understanding the mechanisms driving the aging process(es). Several distinct mechanisms including an altered rate of aging, increased resistance to stress, decreased metabolic rate, or alterations in a program causing organismic aging and death have been proposed to underlie these mutants. RESULTS Whole-genome analysis of gene expression during chronological aging of the worm provides a rich database of age-specific changes in gene expression and represents one way to distinguish among these models. Using a rigorous statistical model with multiple replicates, we find that a relatively small number of genes (only 164) show statistically significant changes in transcript levels as aging occurs (<1% of the genome). Expression of heat shock proteins decreases, while expression of certain transposases increases in older worms, and these findings are consistent with a higher mortality risk due to a failure in homeostenosis and destabilization of the genome in older animals. Finally, a specific subset of genes is coordinately altered both during chronological aging and in the transition from the reproductive form to the dauer, demonstrating a mechanistic overlap in aging between these two processes. CONCLUSIONS We have performed a whole-genome analysis of changes in gene expression during aging in C. elegans that provides a molecular description of C. elegans senescence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- James Lund
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
11
|
Johnson TE, Henderson S, Murakami S, de Castro E, de Castro SH, Cypser J, Rikke B, Tedesco P, Link C. Longevity genes in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans also mediate increased resistance to stress and prevent disease. J Inherit Metab Dis 2002; 25:197-206. [PMID: 12137228 DOI: 10.1023/a:1015677828407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 132] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
More than 40 single-gene mutants in Caenorhabditis elegans have been demonstrated to lead to increased lifespan (a rigorous, operational test for being a gerontogene) of 20% or more; these are referred to collectively as 'Age' mutants. Age mutants must change key functions that are rate-limiting determinants of longevity; moreover, important genes can be identified independently of prior hypotheses as to actual mode of gene action in extending longevity and/or 'slowing' of ageing. These Age mutants define as many as nine (possibly) distinct pathways and/or modes of action, as defined by primary phenotype. Each of three well-studied mutants (age-1, clk-1, and spe-26) alters age-specific mortality rates in a fashion unique to itself. In age-1 mutants, the decreases in mortality rates are quite dramatic, with an almost tenfold drop in mortality throughout most of life. All Age mutants (so far without exception) increase the ability of the worm to respond to several (but not all) stresses, including heat, UV, and reactive oxidants. We have used directed strategies as well as random mutagenesis to identify novel genes that increase the worm's ability to resist stress. Two genes (daf-16 and old-1) are epistatic to the long-life phenotype of most mutants and also yield over-expression strains that are stress-resistant and long-lived. We have also used a variety of approaches to determine what transcriptional alterations are associated with increased longevity (and with ageing itself), including whole-genome expression studies using microarrays and GFP reporter constructs. We suggest that the role of the Age genes in both longevity and stress resistance indicates that a major evolutionary determinant of longevity is the ability to respond to stress. In mammals, both dietary restriction and hormesis are phenomena in which the endogenous level of resistance to stress has been upregulated; both of these interventions extend longevity, suggesting possible evolutionary conservation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- T E Johnson
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado at Boulder, 80309, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|