A deuterohemin peptide extends lifespan and increases stress resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

This group has invented a novel deuterohemin containing peptide deuterohemin-AlaHisThrValGluLys (DhHP-6), which has various biological activities including protection of murine ischemia reperfusion injury, improving cell survival and preventing apoptosis. It was hypothesized that DhHP-6 is beneficial on the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) and increases their resistance to heat and oxidative stress. C. elegans were treated with different concentrations of DhHP-6. Survival time and sensitivity to heat and paraquat were investigated. The data demonstrated that the mean survival time of C. elegans was significantly increased (p < 0.05) in the DhHP-6 treated group compared with the control group. The maximum lifespan was not affected by DhHP-6 treatment. DhHP-6 improved the survival rate of C. elegans in the acute heat stress (35°C) and rescued the C. elegans' sensitivity to paraquat in acute oxidative stress. Superoxide dismutase 3 (SOD-3) protein was up-regulated by DhHP-6 treatment. It was further demonstrated that stress resistance genes such as hsp-16.1, hsp-16.49 and sir-2.1 were regulated by DhHP-6. DAF-16 and SIR-2.1 genes are essential for the beneficial effect of DhHP-6. Therefore, the investigation into the beneficial effect of DhHP-6 on C. elegans' lifespan has the potential to develop novel drugs to prevent ageing.

Keywords::

• Ageing
• oxidative damage
• lifespan
• Caenorhabditis elegans

Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Xueqi Fu of College of Life Science of J.L.University for providing research materials and technical instructions. The GFP pictures were taken with the assistance of Professor Xuexun Fang from the Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering. Fluorescence quantifications were assisted by Professor Yingjie Guo from College of Life Science of J.L.University.

Declaration of interest: Some nematode strains used in this work were provided by Caenorhabditis Genetics Center, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Research Resources. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This paper was first published online on Early Online on 27 May 2010.