Riedel's group has discovered a new transcription factor that acts in neurons to promote longevity
The group of Christian Riedel recently published a study in Nature Communications, identifying a specific set of neurons that delays aging when there is limited nutrient availability.
Illustration: BioRender
Starting point to the study was that the nuclear chromatin landscape changes during normal aging. Thus, the group got interested whether chromatin alterations would distinguish also animals that age at unusual aging rates, slower or faster than normal. For this, they used the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans and focused on animals that experience reduced nutrient availability, as signaled by reduced insulin/IGF-like signaling (IIS), so-called daf-2 mutants. These animals age much slower and as a consequence live 2-3 times longer.
The group found that in these animals enhancer regions that close with age tend to open and become transcriptionally active. Looking at these enhancers more closely, they identified a transcription factor, LIN-39, that bound these regions and showed to be required for the longevity of these long-lived daf-2 mutants. Strikingly, they found that LIN-39 acts during late development in so-called VC motor neurons – at a time when these undergo maturation. Taken together, the group’s findings showed that longevity under reduced IIS relied on a signal emitted by properly matured VC neurons. And due to its essential role in this maturation process, LIN-39 was actually a rare example of a protein that determined the organism’s rate of aging and ultimately its lifespan by a time-limited action during development.
Last updated: August 20, 2025
Source: MBW