Investigation into the communication between unheated and heat-stressed Caenorhabditis elegans via volatile stress signals

Abstract

Our research group has recently found that radiation-induced airborne stress signals can be used for communication among Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). This paper addresses the question of whether heat stress can also induce the emission of airborne stress signals to alert neighboring C. elegans and elicit their subsequent stress response. Here, we report that heat-stressed C. elegans produces volatile stress signals that trigger an increase in radiation resistance in neighboring unheated C. elegans. When several loss-of-function mutations affecting thermosensory neuron (AFD), heat shock factor-1, HSP-4, and small heat-shock proteins were used to test heat-stressed C. elegans, we found that the production of volatile stress signals was blocked, demonstrating that the heat shock response and ER pathway are involved in controlling the production of volatile stress signals. Our data further indicated that mutations affecting the DNA damage response (DDR) also inhibited the increase in radiation resistance in neighboring unheated C. elegans that might have received volatile stress signals, indicating that the DDR might contribute to radioadaptive responses induction by volatile stress signals. In addition, the regulatory pattern of signal production and action was preliminarily clarified. Together, the results of this study demonstrated that heat-stressed nematodes communicate with unheated nematodes via volatile stress signals.

APPA Increases Lifespan and Stress Resistance via Lipid Metabolism and Insulin/IGF-1 Signal Pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans

“…Based on this, developing drugs or treatments that slow the aging process and boost the body’s antioxidant capacity is crucial. Caenorhabditis elegans is a popular biological model for research on the mechanisms of oxidative stress and aging, due to its ease to culture, short life cycle of 15 to 21 days, strong ability to reproduce, small size, no ethical limitations, numerous mutant strains, low cost, and high productivity [ 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

Probiotic effects of Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides on stress and longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans

“…The expression of the stress reporters was measured according to Manjarrez and Mailler, 2020, with supporting evidence for heat shock induction of these stress reporters from An and Blackwell (2003), Bar-Ziv et al (2020), Bischof et al (2008), Chen et al (2023), Labbadia et al (2017), Taylor et al (2021), Yoneda et al (2004). The hsp-4::GFP positive control was treated with tunicamycin for 6 h at 20 °C, with a 24-h recovery at 20 °C prior to imaging (Yoneda et al, 2004;Bischof et al, 2008).…”