Cynthia Kenyon - Experimental Evidence for Programmed Aging

Cynthia Kenyon -

Experimental Evidence for Programmed Aging

Cynthia Kenyon is a lab chief for the Hilblom Center for the Biology of Aging at the University of California, San Francisco:

"The Kenyon Lab studies genes and cells that control aging in the roundworm C. elegans. Our lab is affiliated with graduate programs in Biochemistry, Genetics, Cell Biology, Developmental Biology, and Neuroscience under the auspices of the Program in Biological Sciences (PIBS), and with the graduate program in Biomedical Sciences (BMS)."

"In 1993, Kenyon and colleagues’ discovery that a single-gene mutation could double the lifespan of C. elegans sparked an intensive study of the molecular biology of aging. These findings have now led to the discovery that an evolutionarily conserved hormone signaling system controls aging in other organisms as well, including mammals." [emphasis added]

Kenyon Lab: Quicktime movie of two active 144 day old worms. [normal life span 21 days]

Kenyon's work strongly supports programmed aging in several areas:

Discovery of aging genes, genes that when disabled result in dramatically extended life span, suggests existence of commonality in aging processes and also suggests a purposeful life span regulation mechanism.

Discovery of aging mechanisms that respond to sensing of external conditions or internal conditions further suggests common factors in a complex regulation system.

Discovery of signaling processes demonstrates existence of complex mechanisms involving generation and reception of signals.

Kenyon has recently joined the Google Calico Labs as Director of Research. See Open Letter - Comments on Research Directions from Goldsmith to Kenyon.

References

Cynthia Kenyon, Jean Chang, Erin Gensch , Adam Rudner and Ramon Tabtiang
A C. elegans mutant that lives twice as long as wild type.
Nature 366(6454), 461-464 (1993)  [PDF]  [PubMed] [News and Views]

Jennie B. Dorman, Bella Albinder, Terry Shroyer and Cynthia Kenyon
The age-1 and daf-2 genes function in a common pathway to control the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans.
Genetics 141(4), 1399-1406 (1995) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]

Kui Lin, Jennie B. Dorman, Aylin Rodan and Cynthia Kenyon
daf-16: An HNF-3/forkhead family member that can function to double the life-span of Caenorhabditis elegans.
Science 278(5341), 1319-1322 (1997) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed] [Perspectives]

Javier Apfeld and Cynthia Kenyon
Cell non-autonomy of C. elegans daf-2 function in the regulation of diapause and lifespan.
Cell 95(2), 199-210 (1998) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]

Honor Hsin and Cynthia Kenyon
Signals from the reproductive system regulate the lifespan of C. elegans.
Nature 399(6734), 362-366 (1999) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]  [News and Views]

Javier Apfeld and Cynthia Kenyon
Regulation of lifespan by sensory perception in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Nature 420(6763), 804-809 (1999) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]  [News and Views]

Kui Lin, Honor Hsin, Natasha Libina and Cynthia Kenyon
Regulation of the Caenorhabditis elegans longevity protein DAF-16 by insulin/IGF-1 and germline signaling.
Nature Genetics 28(2), 139-145 (2001) [PDF] [Full Text] [PubMed] [Supplementary Data] [News and Views]

Nuno Arantes-Olivera, Javier Apfeld, Andrew Dillin and Cynthia Kenyon
Regulation of Life-span by Germ-line Cells in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Science 295(5554), 499-502 (2002) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]  [Supplementary Data]

Delia Garigan, Ao-Lin Hsu, Andrew G. Fraser, Ravi S. Kamath, Julie Ahringer and Cynthia Kenyon
Genetic Analysis of Tissue Aging in Caenorhabditis elegans. A role for heat-shock factor and bacterial proliferation.
Genetics 161(3), 1101-12 (2002) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]

Andrew Dillin, Douglas K. Crawford and Cynthia Kenyon
Timing Requirements for Insulin/IGF-1 Signaling in C. elegans.
Science 298(5594), 830-34 (2002) [PDF]  [Abstract] [PubMed] [Supplementary Data]

Andrew Dillin, Ao-Lin Hsu, Nuno Arantes-Oliveira, Joshua Lehrer-Graiwer, Honor Hsin, Andrew G. Fraser, Ravi S. Kamath, Julie Ahringer and Cynthia Kenyon
Rates of Behavior and Aging Specified by Mitochondrial Function During Development.
Science 298(5602), 2398-2401 (2002) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]  [Supplementary Data]

Ao-Lin Hsu, Coleen T. Murphy and Cynthia Kenyon
Regulation of Aging and Age-Related Disease by DAF-16 and Heat-Shock Factor.
Science 300(5622), 1142-1145 (2003) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]  [Supplementary Data]

Coleen T. Murphy, Steven A. McCarroll, Cornelia I. Bargmann, Andrew Fraser, Ravi S. Kamath, Julie Ahringer, Hao Li and Cynthia Kenyon
Genes that Act Downstream of DAF-16 to Influence the Lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans.
Nature 424(6946), 277-283 (2003) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]  [News and Views]  [Supplementary Data]

Nuno Arantes-Oliveira, Jen R. Berman andCynthia Kenyon
Healthy animals with extreme longevity.
Science 302(5645), 611 (2003) [PDF]  [Abstract] [PubMed]  [Supplementary Data]

Natasha Libina, Jen R. Berman and Cynthia Kenyon
Tissue-specific activities of C. elegans DAF-16 in the regulation of lifespan.
Cell 115(4), 489-502 (2004)  [PDF]   [Abstract] [PubMed]  [Supplementary Data]

Joy Alcedo and Cynthia Kenyon
Regulation of C. elegans Longevity by Specific Gustatory and Olfactory Neurons.
Neuron 41(1), 45-55 (2004) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]  [Previews]  [Supplementary Data]

Malene Hansen, Ao-Lin Hsu, Andrew Dillin, and Cynthia Kenyon
New genes tied to endocrine, metabolic, and dietary regulation of lifespan from a Caenorhabditis elegans genomic RNAi screen.
PLoS Genet. 1(1), 119-128 (2005) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]  [Supplementary Data]

Jen R. Berman and Cynthia Kenyon
Germ-cell loss extends C. elegans life span through regulation of DAF-16 by kri-1 and lipophilic-hormone signaling.
Cell 124(5), 1055-1068 (2006) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]  [Supplementary Data]

Julie M. Pinkston, Delia Garigan, Malene Hansen, and Cynthia Kenyon
Mutations that increase the life span of C. elegans inhibit tumor growth.
Science 313(5789), 971-975 (2006)   [PDF] [Abstract]   [PubMed]  [Supplementary Data]

Malene Hansen, Stephan Taubert, Douglas Crawford, Natasha Libina, Seung-Jae Lee, and Cynthia Kenyon
Lifespan extension by conditions that inhibit translation in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Aging Cell. 6(1):95-110 (2007) [PDF]  [Abstract] [PubMed]  [Supplementary Data]

Florence Broue, P. Liere, Cynthia Kenyon, and Etienne-Emile Baulieu
A steroid hormone that extends the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans.
Aging Cell. 6(1):87-94 (2007)   [PDF]  [Abstract]   [PubMed]  [Supplementary Data]

Arjumand Ghazi, Sivan Henis-Korenblit, and Cynthia Kenyon
Regulation of Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan by a proteasomal E3 ligase complex.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 104(14):5947-5952 (2007)   [PDF]   [Full Text]    [PubMed]  [Dispatch]  [Supplementary Data]

Douglas Crawford, Nataliya Libina, and Cynthia Kenyon
Caenorhabditis elegans integrates food and reproductive signals in lifespan determination.
Aging Cell . 2007(6):715-721 [PDF]  [Full Text] [PubMed]

Julie Pinkston-Gosse and Cynthia Kenyon
DAF-16/FOXO targets genes that regulate tumor growth in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Nature Genetics. 2007 Oct 14 (Epub ahead of print) [PDF]  [Full Text] [PubMed] [News and Views] [Supplementary Data]

Coleen T. Murphy, Seung-Jae Lee, and Cynthia Kenyon
Tissue entrainment by feedback regulation of insulin gene expression in the endoderm of Caenorhabditis elegans.
Proc Nat Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Nov 19 (Epub ahead of print) [PDF]  [Full Text] [PubMed] [Supplementary Data]

Tracy M. Yamawaki, Nuno Arantes-Oliveira, Jen R. Berman, Peichuan Zhang, and Cynthia Kenyon
Distinct Activities of the Germline and Somatic Reproductive Tissues in the Regulation of Caenorhabditis elegans’ Longevity.
Genetics 2008 178(1):513-526 [PDF]  [Full Text] [PubMed] [Issue Highlights]

Malene Hansen, Abha Chandra, Laura L. Mitic, Brian Onken, Monica Driscoll, and Cynthia Kenyon
A Role for Autophagy in the Extension of Lifespan by Dietary Restriction in Caenorhabditis elegans.
PLoS Genetics 2008 4(2):e24 [PDF]  [Full Text] [PubMed]]

David Cristina, Michael Cary, Adam Lunceford, Catherine Clarke, and Cynthia Kenyon
A Regulated Response to Impaired Respiration Slows Behavioral Rates and Increases Lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans.
PLoS Genetics 2009 5(4):e24 [PDF]  [Full Text] [PubMed]]

Seung-Jae Lee and Cynthia Kenyon
Regulation of the longevity response to temperature by thermosensory neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Current Biology 2009 19(9):e1000450 [PDF]  [Full Text] [PubMed]]

Marta Maria Gaglia and Cynthia Kenyon
Stimulation of movement in a quiescent, hibernation-like form of C. elegans by dopamine signaling.
Journal of Neuroscience 2009 29(22):7315-722 [PDF]  [Full Text] [PubMed]

Cynthia Kenyon
Ponce d'elegans: genetic quest for the fountain of youth.
Cell 84(4), 501-504 (1996)  [PDF]    [Abstract] [PubMed]

Cynthia Kenyon
Environmental factors and gene activities that influence the lifespan of C. elegans.
In "The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, II" (D. Riddle, B. Meyer and J. Priess, eds.). Cold Spring Harbor, NY, pp. 791-813.
[Online Book Version]

Leonard Guarente and Cynthia Kenyon
Genetic pathways that regulate ageing in model organisms.
Nature 408(6809), 255-262 (2000) [PDF] [Full Text] [PubMed]

Cynthia Kenyon
A conserved regulatory system for aging.
Cell 105(2), 165-168 (2001)  [PDF] [Full text] [PubMed]

Cynthia Kenyon
The plasticity of aging: insights from long-lived mutants.
Cell 120(4), 449-460 (2005) [PDF] [Abstract] [PubMed]

Cynthia Kenyon
My adventures with genes from the fountain of youth.
In “The Harvey Lectures: Series 100, 2004-2005” (Harvey Lecture Series, Wiley-Liss).   [PDF]   [PubMed]