title: The C. elegans healthspan and stress-resistance assay toolkit.
abstract: A wealth of knowledge on the genetic mechanisms that govern aging has emerged from the study of mutants that exhibit enhanced longevity and exceptional resilience to adverse environmental conditions. In these studies, lifespan has been an excellent proxy for establishing the rate of aging, but it is not always correlated with qualitative measures of healthy aging or 'healthspan'. Although the attributes of healthspan have been challenging to define, they share some universal features that are increasingly being incorporated into aging studies. Here we describe methods used to determine Caenorhabditis elegans healthspan. These include assessments of tissue integrity and functionality and resistance to a variety of biotic and abiotic stressors. We have chosen to include simple, rapid assays in this collection that can be easily undertaken in any C. elegans laboratory, and can be relied on to provide a preliminary but thorough insight into the healthspan of a population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 7129 Rangos Research Centre, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 4401 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224, United States.
authors.forename: Scott Alexander
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Keith
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 7129 Rangos Research Centre, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 4401 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224, United States.
authors.forename: Francis Raj Gandhi
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Amrit
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 7129 Rangos Research Centre, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 4401 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224, United States.
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ratnappan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 7129 Rangos Research Centre, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 4401 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224, United States. Electronic address: arjumand.ghazi@chp.edu.
authors.forename: Arjumand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghazi
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal; D009154:Mutation; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Age-related changes; Aging; C. elegans; Healthspan; Lifespan; Longevity; Stress response assay