Vitellogenin-6 is a major carbonylated protein in aged nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans.
Recently we found that protein carbonyl content increases with age in wild-type as well as long- and short-lived Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes in inverse correlation with life span (Adachi et al., J. Gerontol. 53A, B240-B244, 1998; Yasuda et al., J. Gerontol. 54A, B47-B51, 1999). In the present study, we investigated carbonyl modification of individual proteins in young and old wild-type nematodes by two-dimensional immunoblot using antibodies against 2, 4-dinitrophenylhydrazones. A protein with apparent molecular weight of 110 kDa was found to be a major carbonylated protein in aged animals. Amino acid sequence of peptide fragments of the protein was identical to that of vitellogenin-6, a yolk protein synthesized in and secreted from the intestine during egg-laying stage. Although the function(s) of the protein in aged nematodes is unclear, we suggest that the protein may have a role to protect other cellular components from oxidation because of its metal binding capacity.
Nakamura
A
A
Department of Biochemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University, Japan.
Yasuda
K
K
Adachi
H
H
Sakurai
Y
Y
Ishii
N
N
Goto
S
S
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000737:chemistry*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D014819:Vitellogenins / Q000737:chemistry*
D014819:Vitellogenins