The mtDNA mutator mice have high levels of point mutations and linear deletions of mtDNA causing a progressive respiratory chain dysfunction and a premature aging phenotype. We have now performed molecular analyses to determine the mechanism whereby these mtDNA mutations impair respiratory chain function. We report that mitochondrial protein synthesis is unimpaired in mtDNA mutator mice consistent with the observed minor alterations of steady-state levels of mitochondrial transcripts. These findings refute recent claims that circular mtDNA molecules with large deletions are driving the premature aging phenotype. We further show that the stability of several respiratory chain complexes is severely impaired despite normal synthesis of the corresponding mtDNA-encoded subunits. Our findings reveal a mechanism for induction of aging phenotypes by demonstrating a causative role for amino acid substitutions in mtDNA-encoded respiratory chain subunits, which, in turn, leads to decreased stability of the respiratory chain complexes and respiratory chain deficiency.

Limiting the debilitating consequences of ageing is a major medical challenge of our time. Robust pharmacological interventions that promote healthy ageing across diverse genetic backgrounds may engage conserved longevity pathways. Here we report results from the Caenorhabditis Intervention Testing Program in assessing longevity variation across 22 Caenorhabditis strains spanning 3 species, using multiple replicates collected across three independent laboratories. Reproducibility between test sites is high, whereas individual trial reproducibility is relatively low. Of ten pro-longevity chemicals tested, six significantly extend lifespan in at least one strain. Three reported dietary restriction mimetics are mainly effective across C. elegans strains, indicating species and strain-specific responses. In contrast, the amyloid dye ThioflavinT is both potent and robust across the strains. Our results highlight promising pharmacological leads and demonstrate the importance of assessing lifespans of discrete cohorts across repeat studies to capture biological variation in the search for reproducible ageing interventions.

The ability to perceive and respond to harmful conditions is crucial for the survival of any organism. The transcription factor DAF-16/FOXO is central to these responses, relaying distress signals into the expression of stress resistance and longevity promoting genes. However, its sufficiency in fulfilling this complex task has remained unclear. Using C. elegans, we show that DAF-16 does not function alone but as part of a transcriptional regulatory module, together with the transcription factor HLH-30/TFEB. Under harmful conditions, both transcription factors translocate into the nucleus, where they often form a complex, co-occupy target promoters, and co-regulate many target genes. Interestingly though, their synergy is stimulus-dependent: They rely on each other, functioning in the same pathway, to promote longevity or resistance to oxidative stress, but they elicit heat stress responses independently, and they even oppose each other during dauer formation. We propose that this module of DAF-16 and HLH-30 acts by combinatorial gene regulation to relay distress signals into the expression of specific target gene sets, ensuring optimal survival under each given threat.

The decline in early life mortality since the 1950s has resulted in dramatic demographic shift towards aged population. Aging manifests as a decline in health, multiple organ dysfunction and increased vulnerability to diseases, which degrades quality of life. A verity of genetic and pharmacological interventions, mostly from non-vertebrate models, have been identified that can enhance lifespan. Whether these interventions extend healthspan, the disease free and functional period of life, has only sometimes been tested and is often a matter of debate. Human aging indices have been developed to assess elements of functional decline with aging (e.g. sarcopenia, cognitive function). However, corresponding comprehensive indices in mice are seldom applied to aging studies. To probe the relationship between healthspan and lifespan extension in mammals, we performed a series of longitudinal, clinically-relevant healthspan measurements.Metabolism and aging are tightly connected and specific perturbations of nutrient-sensing pathways can enhance longevity in laboratory animals. Here we show that alpha-ketoglutarate (delivered in the form of a Calcium salt, CaAKG), a key metabolite in tricarboxylic (TCA) cycle that is reported to extend lifespan in worms , can significantly extend lifespan and healthspan in mice. AKG is involved in various fundamental processes including collagen synthesis and epigenetic changes. Due to its broad roles in multiple biological processes, AKG has been a subject of interest for researchers in various fields. AKG also influences several age-related processes, including stem cell proliferation and osteoporosis. To determine its role in mammalian aging, we administered CaAKG in 18 months old mice and determined its effect on the onset of frailty and survival, discovering that the metabolite promotes longer, healthier life associated with a decrease in levels of inflammatory factors. Interestingly the reduction in frailty was more dramatic than the increase in lifespan, leading us to propose that CaAKG compresses morbidity.

A variety of observations support the hypothesis that deficiency of complex I [reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NADH):ubiquinone oxidoreductase] of the mitochondrial respiratory chain plays a role in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, recent data from a study using mice with knockout of the complex I subunit NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase iron-sulfur protein 4 (Ndufs4) has challenged this concept as these mice show degeneration of non-dopamine neurons. In addition, primary dopamine (DA) neurons derived from such mice, reported to lack complex I activity, remain sensitive to toxins believed to act through inhibition of complex I. We tissue-specifically disrupted the Ndufs4 gene in mouse heart and found an apparent severe deficiency of complex I activity in disrupted mitochondria, whereas oxidation of substrates that result in entry of electrons at the level of complex I was only mildly reduced in intact isolated heart mitochondria. Further analyses of detergent-solubilized mitochondria showed the mutant complex I to be unstable but capable of forming supercomplexes with complex I enzyme activity. The loss of Ndufs4 thus causes only a mild complex I deficiency in vivo. We proceeded to disrupt Ndufs4 in midbrain DA neurons and found no overt neurodegeneration, no loss of striatal innervation and no symptoms of Parkinsonism in tissue-specific knockout animals. However, DA homeostasis was abnormal with impaired DA release and increased levels of DA metabolites. Furthermore, Ndufs4 DA neuron knockouts were more vulnerable to the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine. Taken together, these findings lend in vivo support to the hypothesis that complex I deficiency can contribute to the pathophysiology of PD.

The decline in early life mortality since the 1950s has resulted in dramatic demographic shift towards aged population. Aging manifests as a decline in health, multiple organ dysfunction and increased vulnerability to diseases, which degrades quality of life. A verity of genetic and pharmacological interventions, mostly from non-vertebrate models, have been identified that can enhance lifespan. Whether these interventions extend healthspan, the disease free and functional period of life, has only sometimes been tested and is often a matter of debate. Human aging indices have been developed to assess elements of functional decline with aging (e.g. sarcopenia, cognitive function). However, corresponding comprehensive indices in mice are seldom applied to aging studies. To probe the relationship between healthspan and lifespan extension in mammals, we performed a series of longitudinal, clinically-relevant healthspan measurements.Metabolism and aging are tightly connected and specific perturbations of nutrient-sensing pathways can enhance longevity in laboratory animals. Here we show that alpha-ketoglutarate (delivered in the form of a Calcium salt, CaAKG), a key metabolite in tricarboxylic (TCA) cycle that is reported to extend lifespan in worms , can significantly extend lifespan and healthspan in mice. AKG is involved in various fundamental processes including collagen synthesis and epigenetic changes. Due to its broad roles in multiple biological processes, AKG has been a subject of interest for researchers in various fields. AKG also influences several age-related processes, including stem cell proliferation and osteoporosis. To determine its role in mammalian aging, we administered CaAKG in 18 months old mice and determined its effect on the onset of frailty and survival, discovering that the metabolite promotes longer, healthier life associated with a decrease in levels of inflammatory factors. Interestingly the reduction in frailty was more dramatic than the increase in lifespan, leading us to propose that CaAKG compresses morbidity.

MtDNA mutator mice exhibit marked features of premature aging. We find that these mice treated from age of ≈100 days with the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant SkQ1 showed a delayed appearance of traits of aging such as kyphosis, alopecia, lowering of body temperature, body weight loss, as well as ameliorated heart, kidney and liver pathologies. These effects of SkQ1 are suggested to be related to an alleviation of the effects of an enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in mtDNA mutator mice: the increased mitochondrial ROS released due to mitochondrial mutations probably interact with polyunsaturated fatty acids in cardiolipin, releasing malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxynonenal that form protein adducts and thus diminishes mitochondrial functions. SkQ1 counteracts this as it scavenges mitochondrial ROS. As the results, the normal mitochondrial ultrastructure is preserved in liver and heart; the phosphorylation capacity of skeletal muscle mitochondria as well as the thermogenic capacity of brown adipose tissue is also improved. The SkQ1-treated mice live significantly longer (335 versus 290 days). These data may be relevant in relation to treatment of mitochondrial diseases particularly and the process of aging in general.

Although mitochondrial dysfunction is often accompanied by excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, we previously showed that an increase in random somatic mtDNA mutations does not result in increased oxidative stress. Normal levels of ROS and oxidative stress could also be a result of an active compensatory mechanism such as a mild increase in proton leak. Uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) was proposed to play such a role in many physiological situations. However, we show that upregulation of UCP2 in mtDNA mutator mice is not associated with altered proton leak kinetics or ROS production, challenging the current view on the role of UCP2 in energy metabolism. Instead, our results argue that high UCP2 levels allow better utilization of fatty acid oxidation resulting in a beneficial effect on mitochondrial function in heart, postponing systemic lactic acidosis and resulting in longer lifespan in these mice. This study proposes a novel mechanism for an adaptive response to mitochondrial cardiomyopathy that links changes in metabolism to amelioration of respiratory chain deficiency and longer lifespan.