title: The C. elegans lifespan assay toolkit.
abstract: Since the discovery of single gene mutations that double its lifespan, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has provided remarkable insights into the biology of aging. The precisely measurable lifespan of worms has proven to be an efficient tool to assess the impact of various genetic, physiological and environmental factors on organismal aging. In this article, we describe methods to set up and monitor experiments to determine worm lifespan. We include procedures used for classical, small-scale lifespan assays that are generally performed on solid media, and review recent advances in high-throughput, automated longevity experiments conducted in liquid culture and microfluidic devices. In addition, tools that help analyze this data to obtain survival statistics are summarized, and C. elegans strains that offer particular advantages for lifespan studies are listed.
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.
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. 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; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D023421:Models, Animal; D009154:Mutation
keywords: Aging; C. elegans; High throughput; Lifespan; Longevity; Stress assay