title: Non-autonomous DAF-16/FOXO activity antagonizes age-related loss of C. elegans germline stem/progenitor cells.
abstract: Stem cells maintain tissues and organs over the lifespan of individuals. How aging influences this process is unclear. Here we investigate the effects of aging on C. elegans germline stem/progenitor cells and show that the progenitor pool is depleted over time in a manner dependent on inhibition of DAF-16/FOXO by insulin/IGF-1 signalling (IIS). Our data indicate that DAF-16/FOXO activity in certain somatic gonad cells is required for germline progenitor maintenance, and that this role is separable from the effect of DAF-16/FOXO on organismal aging. In addition, blocking germ cell flux, similar to reducing IIS, maintains germline progenitors. This effect is partially dependent on gonadal DAF-16/FOXO activity. Our results imply that (1) longevity pathways can regulate aging stem cells through anatomically separable mechanisms, (2) stem cell maintenance is not necessarily prioritized and (3) stem cell regulation can occur at the level of an entire organ system such as the reproductive system.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Cell Biology and Pathology, The Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Stem Cell Biology, Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, 540 First Avenue, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Zhao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Departments of Cell Biology and Pathology, The Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Stem Cell Biology, Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, 540 First Avenue, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: E Jane Albert
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Hubbard
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010060:Ovulation; D010957:Plasmids; D034622:RNA Interference; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; C108831:daf-16 protein, C elegans