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(1 - 7 of 7)
- Title
- Neuronal autophagy activity is essential for insulin growth factor signaling-regulated lifespan extension in C. elegans.
- Creator
- Minnerly, Justin, Jia, Kailiang, Zhang, Jiuli, Graduate College
- Abstract/Description
-
The conserved insulin growth factor IGF signaling pathway is one of the major regulators of lifespan in many species including C. elegans. In C. elegans the insulin/IGF-like receptor is encoded by the daf-2 gene, mutations in which result in lifespan extension. The daf-2 activity in the nervous system controls these phenotypes cell nonautonomously. Interestingly, the longevity phenotype of daf-2 mutant worms is dependent on macroautophagy hereafter autophagy. Autophagy is a highly conserved...
Show moreThe conserved insulin growth factor IGF signaling pathway is one of the major regulators of lifespan in many species including C. elegans. In C. elegans the insulin/IGF-like receptor is encoded by the daf-2 gene, mutations in which result in lifespan extension. The daf-2 activity in the nervous system controls these phenotypes cell nonautonomously. Interestingly, the longevity phenotype of daf-2 mutant worms is dependent on macroautophagy hereafter autophagy. Autophagy is a highly conserved lysosomal degradation pathway involved in the removal of long-lived proteins and cytoplasmic organelles. During autophagy, cellular components are sequestered into the double-membrane autophagosomes and delivered to lysosomes for degradation. Increasing evidence has emerged that the autophagy process is a central regulator of lifespan that is required for the effects of DAF-2 signaling, dietary restriction and some mitochondrial mutations on C. elegans longevity. It is unknown however whether autophagy activity in every tissue or in a single tissue mediates the influence of these longevity signals. To address this question, we examined the tissue requirement of the autophagy gene atg-18 for the lifespan of wild type animals and the daf-2 mutant. We discovered that neurons and intestinal cells are two key tissues where atg-18 mediates the effect of DAF-2 insulin-like signaling on lifespan, suggesting autophagy acts cell nonautonomously in controlling C. elegans adult longevity. Moreover, we found that neuronal release of neuropeptides is required for the cell non-autonomous function of neuronal autophagy activity in controlling C. elegans lifespan.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00005900
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Tissue-specific requirement of the autophagy gene atg-18 in controlling C. elegans dauer morphogenesis, fat metabolism and adult longevity.
- Creator
- Minnerly, Justin, Zhang, Jiuli, Graduate College, Jia, Kailiang
- Abstract/Description
-
The conserved insulin growth factor IGF signaling pathway is one of the major regulators of lifespan in many species including C. elegans. In C. elegans the insulin/IGF-like receptor is encoded by the daf-2 gene, mutations in which result in lifespan extension, fat accumulation and dauer formation. The daf-2 activity in the nervous system controls these phenotypes cell non-autonomously. Interestingly, the longevity phenotype of daf-2 mutant worms is dependent on macroautophagy hereafter...
Show moreThe conserved insulin growth factor IGF signaling pathway is one of the major regulators of lifespan in many species including C. elegans. In C. elegans the insulin/IGF-like receptor is encoded by the daf-2 gene, mutations in which result in lifespan extension, fat accumulation and dauer formation. The daf-2 activity in the nervous system controls these phenotypes cell non-autonomously. Interestingly, the longevity phenotype of daf-2 mutant worms is dependent on macroautophagy hereafter autophagy. Autophagy is a highly conserved lysosomal degradation pathway involved in the removal of long-lived proteins and cytoplasmic organelles. During autophagy, cellular components are sequestered into the double-membrane autophagosomes and delivered to lysosomes for degradation. Increasing evidence has emerged that the autophagy process is a central regulator of lifespan that is required for the effects of DAF-2 signaling, dietary restriction and some mitochondrial mutations on C. elegans longevity. It is unknown however whether autophagy activity in every tissue or in a single tissue mediates the influence of these longevity signals. To address this question, we examined the tissue requirement of autophagy gene atg-18 for the lifespan of wild type animals and the daf-2 mutant. We discovered that neurons and intestinal cells are two key tissues where atg-18 mediates the effect of DAF-2 insulin-like signaling on lifespan, fat accumulation and dauer morphogenesis, suggesting autophagy acts cell non-autonomously in controlling C. elegans dauer formation, fat metabolism and adult longevity.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00005160
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The cell non-autonomous function of ATG-18 is essential for neuroendocrine regulation of Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan.
- Creator
- Justin Minnerly, Jiuli Zhang, Thomas Parker, Tiffany Kaul, Kailiang Jia
- Abstract/Description
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Restriction of dietary food without malnutrition robustly extends lifespan in more than twenty species. It was also reported that fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) deficient in olfactory function live longer and that the longevity induced by food restriction is partially due to decreased olfaction. These observations suggest food assimilation through the gastrointestinal tract and food smell detected by olfactory neurons influence lifespan. The insulin growth factor signaling pathway is...
Show moreRestriction of dietary food without malnutrition robustly extends lifespan in more than twenty species. It was also reported that fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) deficient in olfactory function live longer and that the longevity induced by food restriction is partially due to decreased olfaction. These observations suggest food assimilation through the gastrointestinal tract and food smell detected by olfactory neurons influence lifespan. The insulin growth factor signaling pathway is regulated by nutrient levels and has been shown to mediate the lifespan extension conferred by food restriction and defective gustatory neurons in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. However, the mechanism remains unclear. Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway and is sensitive to nutrient availability. We found autophagy activity in the intestine and food sensory neurons acts in parallel to mediate food restriction and insulin signaling regulated lifespan extension in Caenorhabditis elegans. Moreover, intestinal and neuronal autophagy converge on unidentified neurons to control the secretion of neuropeptides that regulate lifespan. These data suggest autophagy is an essential component in a neuroendocrine pathway that coordinates how environmental food cues detected by sensory neurons and food nutrients assimilated by the intestine influence lifespan. These findings may contribute to understanding the aging process in mammals.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUIR000531
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Intestinal autophagy activity is essential for host defense against Salmonella typhimurium infection in Caenorhabditis elega.
- Creator
- Alexander Curt, Jiuli Zhang, Justin Minnerly, Kailiang Jia
- Abstract/Description
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Salmonella typhimurium infects both intestinal epithelial cells and macrophages. Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway that is present in all eukaryotes. Autophagy has been reported to limit the Salmonella replication in Caenorhabditis elegans and in mammals. However, it is unknown whether intestinal autophagy activity plays a role in host defense against Salmonella infection in C. elegans. In this study, we inhibited the autophagy gene bec-1 in different C. elegans tissues and...
Show moreSalmonella typhimurium infects both intestinal epithelial cells and macrophages. Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway that is present in all eukaryotes. Autophagy has been reported to limit the Salmonella replication in Caenorhabditis elegans and in mammals. However, it is unknown whether intestinal autophagy activity plays a role in host defense against Salmonella infection in C. elegans. In this study, we inhibited the autophagy gene bec-1 in different C. elegans tissues and examined the survival of these animals following Salmonella infection. Here we show that inhibition of the bec-1 gene in the intestine but not in other tissues confers susceptibility to Salmonella infection, which is consistent with recent studies in mice showing that autophagy is involved in clearance of Salmonella in the intestinal epithelial cells. Therefore, the intestinal autophagy activity is essential for host defense against Salmonella infection from C. elegans to mice, perhaps also in humans.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUIR000527
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- daf-31 Encodes the Catalytic Subunit of N Alpha-Acetyltransferase that Regulates Caenorhabditis elegans Development, Metabolism and Adult Lifespan.
- Creator
- Chen, Di, Zhang, Jiuli, Minnerly, Justin, Kaul, Tiffany, Riddle, Donald L., Jia, Kailiang, Kim, Stuart K.
- Date Issued
- 2014-10-16
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUIR000115
- Format
- Citation
- Title
- Autophagy gene atg-18 regulates C. elegans lifespan cell nonautonomously by neuropeptide signaling.
- Creator
- Minnerly, Justin, Jia, Kailiang, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
- Abstract/Description
-
In the round worm C. elegans, it has recently been shown that autophagy, a highly conserved lysosomal degradation pathway that is present in all eukaryotic cells, is required for maintaining healthspan and for increasing the adult lifespan of worms fed under dietary restriction conditions or with reduced IGF signaling. It is currently unknown how extracellular signals regulate autophagy activity within different tissues during these processes and whether autophagy functions cell-autonomously...
Show moreIn the round worm C. elegans, it has recently been shown that autophagy, a highly conserved lysosomal degradation pathway that is present in all eukaryotic cells, is required for maintaining healthspan and for increasing the adult lifespan of worms fed under dietary restriction conditions or with reduced IGF signaling. It is currently unknown how extracellular signals regulate autophagy activity within different tissues during these processes and whether autophagy functions cell-autonomously or nonautonomously. We have data that for the first time shows autophagy activity in the neurons and intestinal cells plays a major role in regulating adult lifespan and the longevity conferred by altered IGF signaling and dietary restriction, suggesting autophagy can control these phenotypes cell non-autonomously. We hypothesize that autophagy in the neurons and intestinal cells is an essential cellular process regulated by different signaling pathways to control wild type adult lifespan, IGF mediated longevity and dietary restriction induced longevity. Excitingly we also have found that in animals with reduced IGF signaling autophagy can control longevity in only a small subset of neurons alone. Autophagy in either specific individual chemosensory neurons or a small group of them is completely sufficient to control IGF mediated longevity. This work provides novel insight to the function and regulation of autophagy which will help shed light on understanding this essential process in higher organisms, including mammals.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004862, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004862
- Subject Headings
- Caenorhabditis elegans--Molecular genetics., Aging--Molecular aspects., Life cycles (Biology), Cell death., Gene expression., Autophagic vacuoles., Apoptosis., Eukaryotic cells.
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- egl‑4 modulates electroconvulsive seizure duration in C. elegans.
- Creator
- Monica G. Risley, Stephanie P. Kelly, Justin Minnerly, Kailiang Jia, Ken Dawson‑Scully
- Abstract/Description
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Increased neuronal excitability causes seizures with debilitating symptoms. Effective and noninvasive treatments are limited for easing symptoms, partially due to the complexity of the disorder and lack of knowledge of specific molecular faults. An unexplored, novel target for seizure therapeutics is the cGMP/protein kinase G (PKG) pathway, which targets downstream K+ channels, a mechanism similar to Retigabine, a recently FDA-approved antiepileptic drug. Our results demonstrate that...
Show moreIncreased neuronal excitability causes seizures with debilitating symptoms. Effective and noninvasive treatments are limited for easing symptoms, partially due to the complexity of the disorder and lack of knowledge of specific molecular faults. An unexplored, novel target for seizure therapeutics is the cGMP/protein kinase G (PKG) pathway, which targets downstream K+ channels, a mechanism similar to Retigabine, a recently FDA-approved antiepileptic drug. Our results demonstrate that increased PKG activity decreased seizure duration in C. elegans utilizing a recently developed electroconvulsive seizure assay. While the fly is a well-established seizure model, C. elegans are an ideal yet unexploited model which easily uptakes drugs and can be utilized for high-throughput screens. In this study, we show that treating the worms with either a potassium channel opener, Retigabine or published pharmaceuticals that increase PKG activity, significantly reduces seizure recovery times. Our results suggest that PKG signaling modulates downstream K+ channel conductance to control seizure recovery time in C. elegans. Hence, we provide powerful evidence, suggesting that pharmacological manipulation of the PKG signaling cascade may control seizure duration across phyla.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FAUIR000532
- Format
- Document (PDF)
