Lifespan Increase of <i>Podospora anserina</i> by Oleic Acid Is Linked to Alterations in Energy Metabolism, Membrane Trafficking and Autophagy

The maintenance of cellular homeostasis over time is essential to avoid the degeneration of biological systems leading to aging and disease. Several interconnected pathways are active in this kind of quality control. One of them is autophagy, the vacuolar degradation of cellular components. The abse...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lea Schürmanns, Andrea Hamann, Heinz D. Osiewacz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-02-01
Series:Cells
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/11/3/519
Description
Summary:The maintenance of cellular homeostasis over time is essential to avoid the degeneration of biological systems leading to aging and disease. Several interconnected pathways are active in this kind of quality control. One of them is autophagy, the vacuolar degradation of cellular components. The absence of the sorting nexin PaATG24 (SNX4 in other organisms) has been demonstrated to result in impairments in different types of autophagy and lead to a shortened lifespan. In addition, the growth rate and the size of vacuoles are strongly reduced. Here, we report how an oleic acid diet leads to longevity of the wild type and a <i>PaAtg24</i> deletion mutant (<i>ΔPaAtg24</i>). The lifespan extension is linked to altered membrane trafficking, which abrogates the observed autophagy defects in <i>ΔPaAtg24</i> by restoring vacuole size and the proper localization of SNARE protein PaSNC1. In addition, an oleic acid diet leads to an altered use of the mitochondrial respiratory chain: complex I and II are bypassed, leading to reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Overall, our study uncovers multiple effects of an oleic acid diet, which extends the lifespan of <i>P. anserina</i> and provides perspectives to explain the positive nutritional effects on human aging.
ISSN:2073-4409