1
|
Xu Z, Zhao J, Hong M, Zeng C, Guang S, Shi Y. Structural recognition of the mRNA 3' UTR by PUF-8 restricts the lifespan of C. elegans. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:10082-10097. [PMID: 34478557 PMCID: PMC8464079 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2021] [Revised: 07/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The molecular mechanisms of aging are unsolved fundamental biological questions. Caenorhabditis elegans is an ideal model organism for investigating aging. PUF-8, a PUF (Pumilio and FBF) protein in C. elegans, is crucial for germline development through binding with the 3′ untranslated regions (3′ UTR) in the target mRNAs. Recently, PUF-8 was reported to alter mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy by regulating MFF-1, a mitochondrial fission factor, and subsequently regulated longevity. Here, we determined the crystal structure of the PUF domain of PUF-8 with an RNA substrate. Mutagenesis experiments were performed to alter PUF-8 recognition of its target mRNAs. Those mutations reduced the fertility and extended the lifespan of C. elegans. Deep sequencing of total mRNAs from wild-type and puf-8 mutant worms as well as in vivo RNA Crosslinking and Immunoprecipitation (CLIP) experiments identified six PUF-8 regulated genes, which contain at least one PUF-binding element (PBE) at the 3′ UTR. One of the six genes, pqm-1, is crucial for lipid storage and aging process. Knockdown of pqm-1 could revert the lifespan extension of puf-8 mutant animals. We conclude that PUF-8 regulate the lifespan of C. elegans may not only via MFF but also via modulating pqm-1-related pathways.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Xu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, P.R. China
| | - Jie Zhao
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, P.R. China
| | - Minjie Hong
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, P.R. China
| | - Chenming Zeng
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, P.R. China
| | - Shouhong Guang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, P.R. China
| | - Yunyu Shi
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, P.R. China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Otarigho B, Aballay A. Immunity-longevity tradeoff neurally controlled by GABAergic transcription factor PITX1/UNC-30. Cell Rep 2021; 35:109187. [PMID: 34038721 PMCID: PMC8227953 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Revised: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
A body of evidence indicates that metazoan immune and aging pathways are largely interconnected, but the mechanisms involved in their homeostatic control remain unclear. In this study, we find that the PITX (paired-like homeodomain) transcription factor UNC-30 controls the tradeoff between immunity and longevity from the nervous system in Caenorhabditis elegans. PITX/UNC-30 functional loss enhances immunity in a GATA/ELT-2- and p38 MAPK/PMK-1-dependent manner and reduced longevity by activating MXD/MDL-1 and the C2H2-type zinc finger transcription factor PQM-1. The immune inhibitory and longevity stimulatory functions of PITX/UNC-30 require the sensory neuron ASG and a signaling pathway controlled by NPR-1, which is a G protein-coupled receptor related to mammalian neuropeptide Y receptors. Our findings uncover a suppressive role of GABAergic signaling in the neural control of a biological tradeoff where energy is allocated toward immunity at the expense of longevity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Benson Otarigho
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Alejandro Aballay
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Tarkhov AE, Alla R, Ayyadevara S, Pyatnitskiy M, Menshikov LI, Shmookler Reis RJ, Fedichev PO. A universal transcriptomic signature of age reveals the temporal scaling of Caenorhabditis elegans aging trajectories. Sci Rep 2019; 9:7368. [PMID: 31089188 PMCID: PMC6517414 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-43075-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We collected 60 age-dependent transcriptomes for C. elegans strains including four exceptionally long-lived mutants (mean adult lifespan extended 2.2- to 9.4-fold) and three examples of lifespan-increasing RNAi treatments. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) reveals aging as a transcriptomic drift along a single direction, consistent across the vastly diverse biological conditions and coinciding with the first principal component, a hallmark of the criticality of the underlying gene regulatory network. We therefore expected that the organism's aging state could be characterized by a single number closely related to vitality deficit or biological age. The "aging trajectory", i.e. the dependence of the biological age on chronological age, is then a universal stochastic function modulated by the network stiffness; a macroscopic parameter reflecting the network topology and associated with the rate of aging. To corroborate this view, we used publicly available datasets to define a transcriptomic biomarker of age and observed that the rescaling of age by lifespan simultaneously brings together aging trajectories of transcription and survival curves. In accordance with the theoretical prediction, the limiting mortality value at the plateau agrees closely with the mortality rate doubling exponent estimated at the cross-over age near the average lifespan. Finally, we used the transcriptomic signature of age to identify possible life-extending drug compounds and successfully tested a handful of the top-ranking molecules in C. elegans survival assays and achieved up to a +30% extension of mean lifespan.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrei E Tarkhov
- Gero LLC, Nizhny Susalny per. 5/4, Moscow, 105064, Russia.
- Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Skolkovo Innovation Center, Bolshoy Boulevard 30, bld. 1, Moscow, 121205, Russia.
| | - Ramani Alla
- Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Research Service, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
- Department of Geriatrics, Reynolds Institute on Aging, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
| | - Srinivas Ayyadevara
- Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Research Service, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
- Department of Geriatrics, Reynolds Institute on Aging, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
| | - Mikhail Pyatnitskiy
- Gero LLC, Nizhny Susalny per. 5/4, Moscow, 105064, Russia
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, 119121, Moscow, Russia
| | - Leonid I Menshikov
- Gero LLC, Nizhny Susalny per. 5/4, Moscow, 105064, Russia
- National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", 1, Akademika Kurchatova pl., Moscow, 123182, Russia
| | - Robert J Shmookler Reis
- Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Research Service, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
- Department of Geriatrics, Reynolds Institute on Aging, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
- Bioinformatics Program, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
| | - Peter O Fedichev
- Gero LLC, Nizhny Susalny per. 5/4, Moscow, 105064, Russia.
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 141700, Institutskii per. 9, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, Russia.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Abstract
In Caenorhabditis elegans, there is a single FOXO transcription factor homolog, encoded by the gene, daf-16. As a central regulator for multiple signaling pathways, DAF-16 integrates these signals which results in modulation of several biological processes including longevity, development, fat storage, stress resistance, innate immunity, and reproduction. Using C. elegans allows for studies of FOXO in the context of the whole animal. Therefore, manipulating levels or the activity of daf-16 results in phenotypic changes. Genetic and molecular analysis revealed that similar to other systems, DAF-16 is the downstream target of the conserved insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway; a PI 3-kinase/AKT signaling cascade that ultimately controls the regulation of DAF-16 nuclear localization. In this chapter, I will focus on understanding how a single gene daf-16 can incorporate signals from multiple upstream pathways and in turn modulate different phenotypes as well as the study of FOXO in the context of a whole organism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Heidi A Tissenbaum
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States.
| |
Collapse
|