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Chaperoning extended life

Nature volume 390, page 30 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

The capacity to moderate internal and external stress is arguably the central function regulating senescence in whole-animal ageing1,2,3. During ageing, molecular chaperones such as heat-shock proteins are thought to combat stress-related senescent dysfunction4,5. In transgenic Drosophila melanogaster, with varying copy numbers of the gene hsp70 encoding heat-shock protein hsp70, we found that heat-induced expression of hsp70 increased lifespan at normal temperatures. Only a brief, low level of expression was required to obtain a long-term improvement in survival.

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Figure 1: Effect of hsp70 expression on relative survivalin ‘extra-copy’ and ‘excision’ strains of Drosophila.

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Author notes

  1. Marc Tatar

    Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Box G-W, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, 55108, Minnesota, USA

    Marc Tatar, Aziz A. Khazaeli & James W. Curtsinger

Authors
  1. Marc Tatar
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  2. Aziz A. Khazaeli
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  3. James W. Curtsinger
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Tatar, M., Khazaeli, A. & Curtsinger, J. Chaperoning extended life. Nature 390, 30 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/36237

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