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A steroid hormone that extends the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans

  1. Florence Broué1,2,
  2. Philippe Liere1,
  3. Cynthia Kenyon2,
  4. Etienne-Emile Baulieu1

Article first published online: 5 DEC 2006

DOI: 10.1111/j.1474-9726.2006.00268.x

Issue

Aging Cell

Aging Cell

Volume 6, Issue 1, pages 87–94, February 2007

Additional Information

How to Cite

Broué, F., Liere, P., Kenyon, C. and Baulieu, E.-E. (2007), A steroid hormone that extends the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans. Aging Cell, 6: 87–94. doi: 10.1111/j.1474-9726.2006.00268.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    INSERM UMR788, 80 rue du Général Leclerc, 94276, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Cedex, France

  2. 2

    Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), Mission Bay Campus Genentech Hall, San Francisco, CA 94158-2517, USA

* Etienne-Emile Baulieu, INSERM UMR788, 80 rue du Général Leclerc 94276, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Cedex, France. Tel.: + 33 1 49 59 18 82; fax: + 33 1 49 59 92 03; e-mail: baulieu@kb.inserm.fr Cynthia Kenyon, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), Mission Bay Campus Genentech Hall, San Francisco, CA 94158-2200, USA. Tel.: + 1-415-476-9250; fax: + 1 415-514-4145; e-mail: ckenyon@biochem.ucsf.edu

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 5 DEC 2006
  2. Article first published online: 5 DEC 2006
  3. Accepted for publication 8 November 2006
Corrected by:

Corrigendum

Vol. 10, Issue 3, 555, Article first published online: 5 APR 2011

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Keywords:

  • C. elegans;
  • DAF-12 (nuclear receptor);
  • DAF-9 (CYP-450);
  • germ cell ablation;
  • lifespan;
  • pregnenolone;
  • steroids

Summary

Removing the germline of Caenorhabditis elegans extends lifespan. This lifespan extension requires the nuclear receptor DAF-12 and the cytochrome P450 DAF-9, suggesting that a lipophilic hormone is involved. Here we show that C. elegans contains several hormonal steroids that are also present in humans, including pregnenolone (3β-hydroxy-pregn-5-en-20-one; PREG) and other pregnane and androstane derivatives. We find that PREG can extend the lifespan of C. elegans. Moreover, PREG levels rise when the germline is removed in a daf-9-dependent fashion. PREG extends the lifespan of germline-defective daf-9 mutants dramatically, but has no effect on daf-12 mutants. Thus, germline removal may extend lifespan, at least in part, by stimulating the synthesis of PREG.

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