Insulin-like signaling determines survival during stress via posttranscriptional mechanisms in C. elegans

The insulin-like signaling (ILS) pathway regulates metabolism and is known to modulate adult life span in C. elegans. Altered stress responses and resistance to a wide range of stressors are also associated with changes in ILS and contribute to enhanced longevity. The transcription factors DAF-16 and HSF-1 are key effectors of the longevity phenotype. We demonstrate that increased intrinsic thermotolerance, due to lower ILS, is not dependent on stress-induced transcriptional responses but instead requires active protein translation. Translation profiling experiments reveal genes that are posttranscriptionally regulated in response to altered ILS during heat shock in a DAF-16-dependent manner. Furthermore, several novel proteins are specifically required for ILS effects on thermotolerance. We propose that lowered ILS results in metabolic and physiological changes. These DAF-16-induced changes precondition a translational response under acute stress to modulate survival.