Fig. 6: Improving sensory perception promotes the health and survival of worms.

a Autophagosomes (APs, yellow arrowheads) and autolysosomes (ALs, white arrowheads) in the intestine cells (dashed lines) of indicated strains at day 1 of adulthood post 1 h of 5 mM chloroquine (CQ) or mock treatment. n = 3 independent experiments with at least 20 worms. Scale bar: 10 μm. n indicates number of animals. Exact sample size and p value are included in Source Data file. b The thrashing rates (a metric for motility) of the indicated worms at day 1 and 10 of adulthood. n indicates number of animals. Exact sample size and p value are included in Source Data file. c Overexpressing daf-19c reduces polyQ-YFP aggregates (arrowheads) in body wall muscle. Scale Bar: 100 μm. n = 3 biological independent experiments. Exact sample size and p value are included in Source Data file. d Worms with faster IFT at day 10 of adulthood live longer. Worms were ranked by the velocities of the indicated IFT components from the fastest to the slowest. n indicates number of animals. Exact sample size and p value are included in Source Data file. e Overexpressing daf-19c extends lifespan. n = 4 biological independent experiments. Exact sample size and p value are included in Source Data file. f, g Survival curves of WT worms and the worms overexpressing daf-19c undergoing indicated RNAi treatments. Note that disrupting cilia (f) or blocking AMPK signalling (g) abolishes the daf-19c-induced longevity. n = 3 biological independent experiments. Exact sample size and p value are included in Source Data file. h. A graphic summary. In aged worms, the reduced IFT in sensory cilia blunts sensory perception and dysregulates AMPK signalling first in sensory neurons through par-4/LKB1 and in turn in other tissues such as the intestine. Overexpressing daf-19c enhances IFT, improves sensory perception and in turn activates AMPK and autophagy. See discussion for details. Data are presented as mean ± SD. Poisson regression in a, one-way ANOVA in b, c, unpaired t-test (two-tailed) in d, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ns non-significant. See Source Data for the lifespan statistics in e–g. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.