The GATA Transcription Factor egl-27 Delays Aging by Promoting Stress Resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans

Stress is a fundamental aspect of aging,as accumulated damage from a lifetime of stress can limit lifespan and protective responses to stress can extend lifespan. in this study,we identify a conserved caenorhabditis elegans gata transcription factor,egl-27,that is involved in several stress responses and aging. we found that overexpression of egl-27 extends the lifespan of wild-type animals. furthermore,egl-27 is required for the pro-longevity effects from impaired insulin/igf-1 like signaling (iis),as reduced egl-27 activity fully suppresses the longevity of worms that are mutant for the iis receptor,daf-2. egl-27 expression is inhibited by daf-2 and activated by pro-longevity factors daf-16/foxo and elt-3/gata,suggesting that egl-27 acts at the intersection of iis and gata pathways to extend lifespan. consistent with its role in iis signaling,we found that egl-27 is involved in stress response pathways. egl-27 expression is induced in the presence of multiple stresses,its targets are significantly enriched for many types of stress genes,and altering levels of egl-27 itself affects survival to heat and oxidative stress. finally,we found that egl-27 expression increases between young and old animals,suggesting that increased levels of egl-27 in aged animals may act to promote stress resistance. these results identify egl-27 as a novel factor that links stress and aging pathways. © 2012 xu,kim.