DAF-16 | |
---|---|
Gene | DAF-16 |
Protein | FOXO |
Location | Chromosome 1 |
Position | 175-268 |
Organism | Caenorhabditis elegans |
DAF-16 is the sole ortholog of the FOXO family of transcription factors in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans . [1] It is responsible for activating genes involved in longevity, lipogenesis, heat shock survival and oxidative stress responses. [2] [3] It also protects C.elegans during food deprivation, causing it to transform into a hibernation - like state, known as a Dauer. [4] DAF-16 is notable for being the primary transcription factor required for the profound lifespan extension observed upon mutation of the insulin-like receptor DAF-2 . [5] The gene has played a large role in research into longevity and the insulin signalling pathway as it is located in C. elegans, a successful ageing model organism. [6]
DAF-16 is a gene conserved across species, with homologs being found in C. elegans, humans, mice, and Drosophila (fruit flies). [7] In C. elegans, DAF-16 is located on Chromosome 1, at position 175-268. [8] It is made up of 15 exons. [9] DAF-16 is also located downstream of DAF-2, which signals in the IIS pathway. Mutants in this pathway age slower and have a lifespan up to twice as long as normal. [10] Further studies have demonstrated that the lifespan extension is dependent on DAF-16. [11] Other consequences of mutations in the DAF-16 gene is the inability to form dauers. [12]
DAF-16 encodes FOXO (Forkhead box protein O), which binds to gene promoters that contain the sequence TTGTTTAC in their regulatory region – this is the DAF-16 binding element (DBE). [13] FOXO is involved in the Insulin / IGF1 signalling pathway (IIS) which affects longevity, lipogenesis, dauer formation, heat shock and oxidative stress responses, by activating proteins such as MnSOD and Catalase. [14] Expression of FOXO in the intestine normally leads to longevity signalling. [15] FOXO has been shown to have a protective role against cancer, as it regulates and suppresses genes involved in tumour formation. [16] It also has a protective role against muscular dystrophy. [17] FOXO is also important in embryonic development, as it promotes apoptosis. [18]
Insulin Signalling
Insulin and IGF1 are peptide hormones dictating energy functions such as glucose and lipid metabolism. [19] The signalling pathway is evolutionary conserved and found across species. [20] Signalling occurs through kinases such as PI3K to produce phospholipid products such as AKT. [21] This causes downstream phosphorylation of targets such as DAF-16 by a phosphorylation cascade, blocking nuclear entry. Therefore, a reduction in insulin signalling generally leads to an increase in FOXO expression, as DAF-16 is no longer inhibited by AKT. [22] When not phosphorylated, DAF-16 is active and present in the nucleus, [23] so FOXO can be transcribed and can up-regulate production of about 100 beneficial proteins that increase longevity. [24]
C. elegans is the only known species to contain the DAF-16 gene, [25] although orthologs are conserved across species. [26] DAF-16 may localise to the nucleus or cytoplasm, depending on resources. [27] In nutrient rich conditions, DAF-2 and AKT-1/AKT-2 in the insulin pathway inhibits entry of DAF-16 to the nucleus as it is phosphorylated. However starvation, heat and oxidative stress inhibit phosphorylation by AKT and allow the localisation of DAF-16 to the nucleus. [28] DAF-16 is sequestered in the cytoplasm when associated with ftt-2. [29] Translocation to the nucleus and translation of longevity genes occurs after DAF-16 associates with prmpt-1 [30] Translocation to the nucleus is also promoted by jnk-1 in heat stress and sek-1 in oxidative stress. [31] [32]
Expression
Isoform b and Isoform c are expressed in muscles, ectoderm, the intestine and neurons. [33] Isoform b is additionally expressed in the pharynx. [34] Expression can be induced by quinic acid. [35]
Implication in Aging
DAF-16 is necessary for dauer formation and the protection of C. elegans during periods of starvation, as DAF-16, DAF-18 and DAF-12 loss - of - function mutants lose the ability to form dauers. [36] A 2003 study by Murphy et al. showed the significance of DAF-16 for longevity, as it up-regulates genes involved in lifespan extension such as stress response genes and down regulates specific life-shortening genes. [37] It has been proven that telomeres have an implication in the aging process, and in C. elegans the lifespan - extending effect of long telomeres is dependent on DAF-16. [38] DAF-2 mutations more than double the lifespan of C. elegans, and this effect is dependent on the activity of DAF-16 as it encodes a member of the hepatocyte nuclear family 3 (HNF3)/ Forkhead family of transcription factors. [39]
C. elegans has long been used in aging research. [40] Although DAF-16 increases longevity, treating C.elegans with resveratrol extends lifespan in a method independent of DAF-16 and fully dependent on SIR2.1. [41]
DAF-16 is known to interact with:
In 1963 Sydney Brenner realised the success of biology was due to model organisms, and C. elegans has been widely used in research laboratories since. [48] In 1998 the genome of C. elegans was completely sequenced and found to be a 97 megabase genomic sequence consisting of 19,000 genes, with 40% protein products having significant matches in other organisms. [49] The DAF genes DAF-2 and DAF-16 were discovered in the Thomas and Ruvkun labs, after isolating dauer-constitutive (DAF-c) mutants and dauer - defective mutants (DAF-d). Mutations in DAF-2 and DAF-23 caused the dauer - constitutive phenotype, through activation of the dauer - defective genes DAF-16 and DAF-18. [50] This showed that DAF-2 and DAF-23 prevent dauer arrest by antagonising DAF-16 and DAF-18 [51]
Notable scientists involved in the initial and continued characterization of DAF-16-associated aging pathways:
The insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are proteins with high sequence similarity to insulin. IGFs are part of a complex system that cells use to communicate with their physiologic environment. This complex system consists of two cell-surface receptors, two ligands, a family of seven high-affinity IGF-binding proteins, as well as associated IGFBP degrading enzymes, referred to collectively as proteases.
Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek caeno- (recent), rhabditis (rod-like) and Latin elegans (elegant). In 1900, Maupas initially named it Rhabditides elegans. Osche placed it in the subgenus Caenorhabditis in 1952, and in 1955, Dougherty raised Caenorhabditis to the status of genus.
FOXproteins are a family of transcription factors that play important roles in regulating the expression of genes involved in cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, and longevity. Many FOX proteins are important to embryonic development. FOX proteins also have pioneering transcription activity by being able to bind condensed chromatin during cell differentiation processes.
Calorie restriction mimetics (CRM), also known as energy restriction mimetics, are a hypothetical class of dietary supplements or drug candidates that would, in principle, mimic the substantial anti-aging effects that calorie restriction (CR) has on many laboratory animals and humans. CR is defined as a reduction in calorie intake of 20% to 50% without incurring malnutrition or a reduction in essential nutrients. An effective CRM would alter the key metabolic pathways involved in the effects of CR itself, leading to preserved youthful health and longer lifespan without the need to reduce food intake. The term was coined by Lane, Ingram, Roth of the National Institute on Aging in a seminal 1998 paper in the Journal of Anti-Aging Medicine, the forerunner of Rejuvenation Research. A number of genes and pathways have been shown to be involved with the actions of CR in model organisms and these represent attractive targets for drug discovery and for developing CRM. However, no effective CRM have been identified to date.
The DAF-2 gene encodes for the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptor in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans. DAF-2 is part of the first metabolic pathway discovered to regulate the rate of aging. DAF-2 is also known to regulate reproductive development, resistance to oxidative stress, thermotolerance, resistance to hypoxia, and resistance to bacterial pathogens. Mutations in DAF-2 have been shown by Cynthia Kenyon to double the lifespan of the worms. In a 2007 episode of WNYC’s Radiolab, Kenyon called DAF-2 "the grim reaper gene.”
Dauer describes an alternative developmental stage of nematode worms, particularly rhabditids including Caenorhabditis elegans, whereby the larva goes into a type of stasis and can survive harsh conditions. Since the entrance of the dauer stage is dependent on environmental cues, it represents a classic and well studied example of polyphenism. The dauer state is given other names in the various types of nematodes such as ‘diapause’ or ‘hypobiosis’, but since the C. elegans nematode has become the most studied nematode, the term ‘dauer stage’ or 'dauer larvae' is becoming universally recognised when referring to this state in other free-living nematodes. The dauer stage is also considered to be equivalent to the infective stage of parasitic nematode larvae.
c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs), were originally identified as kinases that bind and phosphorylate c-Jun on Ser-63 and Ser-73 within its transcriptional activation domain. They belong to the mitogen-activated protein kinase family, and are responsive to stress stimuli, such as cytokines, ultraviolet irradiation, heat shock, and osmotic shock. They also play a role in T cell differentiation and the cellular apoptosis pathway. Activation occurs through a dual phosphorylation of threonine (Thr) and tyrosine (Tyr) residues within a Thr-Pro-Tyr motif located in kinase subdomain VIII. Activation is carried out by two MAP kinase kinases, MKK4 and MKK7, and JNK can be inactivated by Ser/Thr and Tyr protein phosphatases. It has been suggested that this signaling pathway contributes to inflammatory responses in mammals and insects.
Leonard Pershing Guarente is an American biologist best known for his research on life span extension in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, roundworms, and mice. He is a Novartis Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Forkhead box O3, also known as FOXO3 or FOXO3a, is a human protein encoded by the FOXO3 gene.
Forkhead box protein O4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the FOXO4 gene.
Gary Bruce Ruvkun is an American molecular biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Ruvkun discovered the mechanism by which lin-4, the first microRNA (miRNA) discovered by Victor Ambros, regulates the translation of target messenger RNAs via imperfect base-pairing to those targets, and discovered the second miRNA, let-7, and that it is conserved across animal phylogeny, including in humans. These miRNA discoveries revealed a new world of RNA regulation at an unprecedented small size scale, and the mechanism of that regulation. Ruvkun also discovered many features of insulin-like signaling in the regulation of aging and metabolism. He was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2019.
Forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1), also known as forkhead in rhabdomyosarcoma (FKHR), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the FOXO1 gene. FOXO1 is a transcription factor that plays important roles in regulation of gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis by insulin signaling, and is also central to the decision for a preadipocyte to commit to adipogenesis. It is primarily regulated through phosphorylation on multiple residues; its transcriptional activity is dependent on its phosphorylation state.
Genetics of aging is generally concerned with life extension associated with genetic alterations, rather than with accelerated aging diseases leading to reduction in lifespan.
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The DAF-3 or Dwarfin sma is a nematode Caenorhabditis elegans gene encoding a Co-SMAD protein of TGF-beta signaling pathway. Without daf-7 signal, DAF-3 combined with transcription factor daf-5 to form a heterodimer and started dauer development. When daf-7 binds to the receptors daf-1/daf-4, the phosphorylated daf-8/daf-14 heterodimer enter to the nucleus to inhibit this transcription.
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The age-1 gene is located on chromosome 2 in C.elegans. It gained attention in 1983 for its ability to induce long-lived C. elegans mutants. The age-1 mutant, first identified by Michael Klass, was reported to extend mean lifespan by over 50% at 25 °C when compared to the wild type worm (N2) in 1987 by Johnson et al. Development, metabolism, lifespan, among other processes have been associated with age-1 expression. The age-1 gene is known to share a genetic pathway with daf-2 gene that regulates lifespan in worms. Additionally, both age-1 and daf-2 mutants are dependent on daf-16 and daf-18 genes to promote lifespan extension.