Stage dependent nutritional regulation of transgenerational longevity

Multigenerational Effect of Heat Stress on the Drosophila melanogaster Sperm Proteome

The effect of the parental environment on offspring through non-DNA sequence-based mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, chromatin modifications, noncoding RNAs, and proteins, could only be established after the conception of "epigenetics". These effects are now broadly referred to as multigenerational epigenetic effects. Despite accumulating evidence of male gamete-mediated multigenerational epigenetic inheritance, little is known about the factors that underlie heat stress-induced multigenerational epigenetic inheritance via the male germline in Drosophila. In this study, we address this gap by utilizing an established heat stress paradigm in Drosophila and investigating its multigenerational effect on the sperm proteome. Our findings indicate that multigenerational heat stress during the early embryonic stage significantly influences proteins in the sperm associated with translation, chromatin organization, microtubule-based processes, and the generation of metabolites and energy. Assessment of life-history traits revealed that reproductive fitness and stress tolerance remained unaffected by multigenerational heat stress. Our study offers initial insights into the chromatin-based epigenetic mechanisms as a plausible means of transmitting heat stress memory through the male germline in Drosophila. Furthermore, it sheds light on the repercussions of early embryonic heat stress on male reproductive potential. The data sets from this study are available at the ProteomeXchange Consortium under the identifier PXD037488.

Finally, a Regimen to Extend Human Life Expectancy

The United States has the most expensive healthcare system worldwide. Yet measures of health span and life expectancy are well below the major industrialized nations. With the U.S. population aged 65 years and older projected to double by mid-century, a healthcare crisis is looming. Within this context, huge interest and investment have emerged in technologies and drugs to address aging with an expected benefit to health span. The thesis being that such basic interventions will reduce morbidity caused by many chronic diseases wherein biological age itself is the major risk factor. In the light of limited progress to date, a recent study out of the Harvard School of Public Health is quite refreshing: less than half dozen lifestyle interventions can greatly increase health span. Perhaps these are familiar: cessation of smoking, ≥30 minutes of moderate daily exercise, high-quality diet (limited processed food), modest alcohol intake, and maintenance of an optimal body mass index of 18.5-24.9 kg/m². From age 50 years, women engaging in all of these behaviors versus those who do zero can expect to have a life expectancy of 43.1 additional years (an extra 14 years) with men gaining 37.6 years (an extra 12.2 years). A regimen to extend life expectancy is at hand. However, there is room for optimization by including the effects of sleep, intermittent fasting, and/or caloric restriction. Moreover, the extension of life expectancy by adherence to a healthy lifestyle revises the health span threshold for antiaging treatments under development and should provide a better set of controls for clinical trials investigating novel treatments of aging.

A 'phenotypic hangover': the predictive adaptive response and multigenerational effects of altered nutrition on the transcriptome of Drosophila melanogaster

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis predicts that early-life environmental exposures can be detrimental to later-life health and that mismatch between the pre- and post-natal environment may contribute to the growing non-communicable disease epidemic. Within this is an increasingly recognized role for epigenetic mechanisms; for example, epigenetic modifications can be influenced by nutrition and can alter gene expression in mothers and offspring. Currently, there are few whole-genome transcriptional studies of response to nutritional alteration. Thus, we sought to explore how nutrition affects the expression of genes involved in epigenetic processes in Drosophila melanogaster. We manipulated Drosophila food macronutrient composition at the F0 generation, mismatched F1 offspring back to a standard diet and analysed the transcriptome of the F0-F3 generations by RNA sequencing. At F0, the altered (high-protein, low-carbohydrate) diet increased expression of genes classified as having roles in epigenetic processes, with co-ordinated down-regulation of genes involved in immunity, neurotransmission and neurodevelopment, oxidative stress and metabolism. Upon reversion to standard nutrition, mismatched F1 and F2 generations displayed multigenerational inheritance of altered gene expression. By the F3 generation, gene expression had reverted to F0 (matched) levels. These nutritionally induced gene expression changes demonstrate that dietary alterations can up-regulate epigenetic genes, which may influence the expression of genes with broad biological functions. Furthermore, the multigenerational inheritance of the gene expression changes in F1 and F2 mismatched generations suggests a predictive adaptive response to maternal nutrition, aiding the understanding of the interaction between maternal diet and offspring health, with direct implications for the current non-communicable disease epidemic.

Non-genomic transmission of longevity between generations: potential mechanisms and evidence across species

Accumulating animal and human data indicate that environmental exposures experienced during sensitive developmental periods may strongly influence risk of adult disease. Moreover, the effects triggered by developmental environmental cues can be transgenerationally transmitted, potentially affecting offspring health outcomes. Increasing evidence suggests a central role of epigenetic mechanisms (heritable alterations in gene expression occurring without changes in underlying DNA sequence) in mediating these effects. This review summarizes the findings from animal models, including worms, insects, and rodents, and also from human studies, indicating that lifespan and longevity-associated characteristics can be transmitted across generations via non-genetic factors.