title: Genes down-regulated in spaceflight are involved in the control of longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: How microgravitational space environments affect aging is not well understood. We observed that, in Caenorhabditis elegans, spaceflight suppressed the formation of transgenically expressed polyglutamine aggregates, which normally accumulate with increasing age. Moreover, the inactivation of each of seven genes that were down-regulated in space extended lifespan on the ground. These genes encode proteins that are likely related to neuronal or endocrine signaling: acetylcholine receptor, acetylcholine transporter, choline acetyltransferase, rhodopsin-like receptor, glutamate-gated chloride channel, shaker family of potassium channel, and insulin-like peptide. Most of them mediated lifespan control through the key longevity-regulating transcription factors DAF-16 or SKN-1 or through dietary-restriction signaling, singly or in combination. These results suggest that aging in C. elegans is slowed through neuronal and endocrine response to space environmental cues.
authors: Genomics for Longevity and Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan. yhonda@center.tmig.or.jp
authors: Yoko
authors: Y
authors: Honda
authors: Akira
authors: A
authors: Higashibata
authors: Yohei
authors: Y
authors: Matsunaga
authors: Yukiko
authors: Y
authors: Yonezawa
authors: Tsuyoshi
authors: T
authors: Kawano
authors: Atsushi
authors: A
authors: Higashitani
authors: Kana
authors: K
authors: Kuriyama
authors: Toru
authors: T
authors: Shimazu
authors: Masashi
authors: M
authors: Tanaka
authors: Nathaniel J
authors: NJ
authors: Szewczyk
authors: Noriaki
authors: N
authors: Ishioka
authors: Shuji
authors: S
authors: Honda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D055098:Endocrine Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010675:Pheromones / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013026:Space Flight; D014893:Weightlessness
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones