Abstract
The wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans nematode ages rapidly, undergoing development, senescence, and death in less than 3 weeks. In contrast, mutants with reduced activity of the gene daf-2, a homolog of the insulin and insulin-like growth factor receptors, age more slowly than normal and live more than twice as long. These mutants are active and fully fertile and have normal metabolic rates. The life-span extension caused by daf-2 mutations requires the activity of the gene daf-16. daf-16 appears to play a unique role in life-span regulation and encodes a member of the hepatocyte nuclear factor 3 (HNF-3)/forkhead family of transcriptional regulators. In humans, insulin down-regulates the expression of certain genes by antagonizing the activity of HNF-3, raising the possibility that aspects of this regulatory system have been conserved.
Keywords
Caenorhabditis elegansBiologyMutantGeneCell biologyGeneticsCaenorhabditisFunction (biology)Senescence
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1997
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 278
- Issue
- 5341
- Pages
- 1319-1322
- Citations
- 1483
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Kui Lin,
Jennie B. Dorman,
Aylin R. Rodan
et al.
(1997).
<i>daf-16</i> : An HNF-3/forkhead Family Member That Can Function to Double the Life-Span of <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>.
Science
, 278
(5341)
, 1319-1322.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.278.5341.1319
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1126/science.278.5341.1319