Lifespan and stress resistance of Caenorhabditis elegans are increased by expression of glutathione transferases capable of metabolizing the lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxynonenal

Srinivas Ayyadevara, Mark R. Engle, Sharda P. Singh, Abhijit Dandapat, Cheryl F. Lichti, Helen Beneš, Robert J. Shmookler Reis, Eva Liebau, Piotr Zimniak

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

87 Scopus citations

Abstract

Caenorhabditis elegans expresses a glutathione transferase (GST) belonging to the Pi class, for which we propose the name CeGSTP2-2. CeGSTP2-2 (the product of the gst-10 gene) has the ability to conjugate the lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE). Transgenic C. elegans strains were generated in which the 5′-flanking region and promoter of gst-10 were placed upstream of gst-10 and mGsta4 cDNAs, respectively. mGsta4 encodes the murine mGSTA4-4, an enzyme with particularly high catalytic efficiency for 4-HNE. The localization of both transgenes was similar to that of native CeGSTP2-2. The 4-HNE-conjugating activity in worm lysates increased in the order: control < mGsta4 transgenic < gst-10 transgenic; and the amount of 4-HNE-protein adducts decreased in the same order, indicating that the transgenic enzymes were active and effective in limiting electrophilic damage by 4-HNE. Stress resistance and lifespan were measured in transgenic animals (five independent lines each) and were compared with two independent control lines. Resistance to paraquat, heat shock, ultraviolet irradiation and hydrogen peroxide was greater in transgenic strains. Median lifespan of mGsta4 and gst-10 transgenic strains vs. control strains was increased by 13% and 22%, respectively. In addition to the cause-effect relationship between GST expression and lifespan observed in the transgenic lines, correlative evidence was also obtained in a series of congenic lines of C. elegans in which lifespan paralleled the 4-HNE-conjugating activity in whole-animal lysates. We conclude that electrophilic damage by 4-HNE may contribute to organismal aging.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)257-271
Number of pages15
JournalAging cell
Volume4
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2005
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • 4-hydroxynonenal
  • Aging
  • C. elegans
  • Longevity regulation
  • Molecular biology of aging
  • Oxidative stress
  • Stress resistance
  • Transgenes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Aging
  • Cell Biology

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