One-day thermal regime extends the lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans

Jichang Huang; Kai Wang; Mengqing Wang; Zhen Wu; Guangjie Xie; Yuling Peng; Yan Zhang; Xumin Zhang; Zhiyong Shao

doi:10.1016/j.csbj.2022.12.017

One-day thermal regime extends the lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans

Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2022 Dec 15:21:495-505. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.12.017. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jichang Huang^{1

2

3}, Kai Wang⁴, Mengqing Wang⁴, Zhen Wu¹, Guangjie Xie⁴, Yuling Peng⁵, Yan Zhang⁵, Xumin Zhang¹, Zhiyong Shao⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, PR China.
² Institute of Geriatric Cardiovascular Disease, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu 610000, Sichuan, PR China.
³ Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Targeted Prevention and Treatment of Heart Disease, Guangzhou 510080, Guangdong, PR China.
⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, PR China.
⁵ National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, PR China.

Abstract

Environmental factors, including temperature, can modulate an animal's lifespan. However, their underlying mechanisms remain largely undefined. We observed a profound effect of temperature on the aging of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) by performing proteomic analysis at different time points (young adult, middle age, and old age) and temperature conditions (20 °C and 25 °C). Importantly, although at the higher temperature, animals had short life spans, the shift from 20 °C to 25 °C for one day during early adulthood was beneficial for protein homeostasis since; it decreased protein synthesis and increased degradation. Consistent with our findings, animals who lived longer in the 25 °C shift were also more resistant to high temperatures along with oxidative and UV stresses. Furthermore, the lifespan extension by the 25 °C shift was mediated by three important transcription factors, namely FOXO/DAF-16, HSF-1, and HIF-1. We revealed an unexpected and complicated mechanism underlying the effects of temperature on aging, which could potentially aid in developing strategies to treat age-related diseases. Our data are available in ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD024916.

Keywords: C. elegans; DAF-16; HIF-1; HSF-1; Lifespan; Proteostasis; Temperature.