Abstract
Mutants of C. elegans that exhibit extraordinarily long life-spans are proving a rich source of information on the molecular determinates of aging rate. Such long-lived genetic variants have been subject to a range of biological, biochemical, and molecular analysis, making them an invaluable resource in the current drive to understand aging mechanisms. The mutations conferring extended life-span also confer many other phenotypes including resistance to a variety of extrinsic environmental stresses. This may provide a clue as to why these mutants display extended longevity. Perhaps the long-lived mutants are also resistant to intrinsic metabolic stresses and longevity is a consequence of an increased capacity to deal with the macromolecular damage normally caused by these stresses. However, at the time of writing there is little direct evidence for any particular mechanism for life-span extension and it is likely that different mutations extend life-span in different ways.
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Lithgow, G.J. (2000). Stress Response and Aging in Caenorhabditis elegans . In: Hekimi, S. (eds) The Molecular Genetics of Aging. Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation, vol 29. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-48003-7_7
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