Boosting a gene in nerve cells extended lifespan in worms
Genetically altered worms lived longer and resisted stress better after researchers increased production of a protein that controls gene activity specifically in nerve cells.
Limit: Altered worms made slightly fewer swimming movements than normal worms
Stake: Biogen funded the study.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In experiments in Caenorhabditis elegans worms, researchers increased production of BET-1, a protein that helps control gene activity, specifically in nerve cells. These worms lived longer and resisted stress better than controls.
The nerve cells sent a signal that depended on neurotransmitters, chemicals that nerve cells use to communicate. This signal activated HSF-1, a protein that controls stress-response genes, in the intestine. The worms also resisted bacterial infection better and had fewer intestinal clumps of a protein known to form clumps late in life. The lifespan benefit required HSF-1 in both nerve cells and other tissues. The authors suggested that several stress-defense pathways likely worked together to support longevity.
Why it matters
Protein maintenance declines with age. The work addresses how nerve cells coordinate defenses in other tissues, a question relevant to how bodies maintain resilience as they age.
Caveats
These were genetic experiments in worms, not a treatment study in people. The altered worms also made slightly fewer swimming movements than normal worms at days 5 and 9 of adulthood.
- bet-1
- hsf-1
- Heat shock response and chaperones
- Immune response
- Oxidative stress and ROS signaling
- C. elegans
The paper
University of Southern California
Genes & Development, Aug 7, 2026, Open access
