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Updated: Nov 21, 2025

Lipid Supplementation for Longevity and Gene Transcriptional Analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: December 9, 2022
Is the NDUFV2 subunit of the hydrophilic complex I domain a key determinant of animal longevity?
Reinald Pamplona1, Mariona Jové1, Natalia Mota-Martorell1
1Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Lleida-Lleida Biomedical Research Institute (UdL-IRBLleida), Lleida, Spain.
Abstract:
Complex I, a component of the electron transport chain, plays a central functional role in cell bioenergetics and the biology of free radicals. The structural and functional N module of complex I is one of the main sites of the generation of free radicals. The NDUFV2 subunit/N1a cluster is a component of this module. Furthermore, the rate of free radical production is linked to animal longevity. In this review, we explore the hypothesis that NDUFV2 is the only conserved core subunit designed with a regulatory function to ensure correct electron transfer and free radical production, that low gene expression and protein abundance of the NDUFV2 subunit is an evolutionary adaptation needed to achieve a longevity phenotype, and that these features are determinants of the lower free radical generation at the mitochondrial level and a slower rate of aging of long-lived animals.
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