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PMID: 18955126 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Conditional inhibition of autophagy genes in adult Drosophila impairs immunity without compromising longevity.

Experimental gerontology ·Vol. 44 ·No. 3 ·2009-03-00 ·Pages 228-35

Ren C, Finkel SE, Tower J

Abstract

Immune function declines with age in Drosophila and humans, and autophagy is implicated in immune function. In addition, autophagy genes are required for life span extension caused by reduced insulin/IGF1-like signaling and dietary restriction in Caenorhabditiselegans. To test if the autophagy pathway might be limiting for immunity and/or life span in adult Drosophila, the Geneswitch system was used to cause conditional inactivation of the autophagy genes Atg5, Atg7 and Atg12 by RNAi. Conditional inhibition of Atg genes in adult flies reduced lysotracker staining of adult tissues, and reduced resistance to injected Escherichia coli, as evidenced by increased bacterial titers and reduced fly survival. However, survival of uninjected flies was unaffected by Atg gene inactivation. The data indicate that Atg gene activity is required for normal immune function in adult flies, and suggest that neither autophagy nor immune function are limiting for adult life span under typical laboratory conditions.

MeSH Terms
Aging/physiology Animals Animals, Genetically Modified Autophagy/genetics,physiology Drosophila/genetics,physiology Drosophila Proteins/genetics,physiology Escherichia coli/isolation & purification Escherichia coli Infections/immunology Fasting/physiology Gene Expression Regulation Immunity/genetics Longevity/genetics Male Staining and Labeling
Chemicals
Drosophila Proteins
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Ren Chunli
Molecular and Computational Biology Program, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2910, USA.
Finkel Steven E
Tower John
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Article Info
Journal
Experimental gerontology
Abbr.
Exp Gerontol
ISSN
1873-6815
DOI
10.1016/j.exger.2008.10.002
Published
2009-03-00
Epub
2008-00-12
Pages
228-35
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
0047061
PMCID
PMC2664319
Subset
IM
Grants
NIA NIH HHS · R01 AG011833 · United States
NIA NIH HHS · R01 AG011833-11A2 · United States
NIA NIH HHS · AG11833 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2008.10.002 PMC Full Text View journal details
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