Leucine Exerts Lifespan Extension and Improvement in Three Types of Stress Resistance (Thermotolerance, Anti-Oxidation and Anti-UV Irradiation) in C. elegans

Hongyuan Wang^{1, 2}, Jin Wang² and Zhizhou Zhang^{1, 2,}

¹School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China

²School of Marine Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Weihai 264209, China

Cite this paper:
Hongyuan Wang, Jin Wang and Zhizhou Zhang. Leucine Exerts Lifespan Extension and Improvement in Three Types of Stress Resistance (Thermotolerance, Anti-Oxidation and Anti-UV Irradiation) in C. elegans. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research. 2018; 6(10):665-673. doi: 10.12691/jfnr-6-10-8

Abstract

Recent studies have found various compounds that can extend lifespan in different species. Amino acids as regulators in nutrition process and anti-aging have been investigated, but inconsistency existed in the literature in the context of lifespan-extending roles of some amino acids in C. elegans. In this paper, we measured the effects of individual branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs, leucine, valine and isoleucine) on lifespan in C. elegans. We found that 1000μM and 10000μM leucine could extend lifespan significantly coupled with increased stress resistance of thermotolerance, anti-oxidation and anti- UV irradiation. Furthermore, we used daf-2 and daf-16 mutants to explore the possible molecular mechanism of Leu-induced lifespan extension. Results suggested that the function of Leu on aging regulation is dependent on Insulin/IGF-1 (IIS) signaling. Our work confirmed that BCAAs play an important role in IIS signaling pathway to regulate aging and intake of such nutrients may also be good for healthspan in C. elegans.

Keywords:
C. elegans leucine aging stress resistance daf-16

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