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Updated: Mar 13, 2026
The Replica Set Method: A High-throughput Approach to Quantitatively Measure Caenorhabditis elegans Lifespan
Published on: June 29, 2018
LIN-28 balances longevity and germline stem cell number in Caenorhabditis elegans through let-7/AKT/DAF-16 axis
Dan Wang1,2, Lei Hou1, Shuhei Nakamura3
1Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences-Max Planck Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, China.
Abstract:
The RNA-binding protein LIN-28 was first found to control developmental timing in Caenorhabditis elegans. Later, it was found to play important roles in pluripotency, metabolism, and cancer in mammals. Here we report that a low dosage of lin-28 enhanced stress tolerance and longevity, and reduced germline stem/progenitor cell number in C. elegans. The germline LIN-28-regulated microRNA let-7 was required for these effects by targeting akt-1/2 and decreasing their protein levels. AKT-1/2 and the downstream DAF-16 transcription factor were both required for the lifespan and germline stem cell effects of lin-28. The pathway also mediated dietary restriction induced lifespan extension and reduction in germline stem cell number. Thus, the LIN-28/let-7/AKT/DAF-16 axis we delineated here is a program that plays an important role in balancing reproduction and somatic maintenance and their response to the environmental energy level-a central dogma of the 'evolutionary optimization' of resource allocation that modulates aging.
