Daf-16

DAF-16
A crystalline structure of the protein FOXO, encoded by Daf-16
Gene DAF-16
Protein FOXO
Location Chromosome 1
Position 175-268
Organism Caenorhabditis elegans

DAF-16 is the sole ortholog of the FOXO family of transcription factors in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.[1] It is responsible for activating genes involved in longevity, lipogenesis, heat shock survival and oxidative stress responses.[2][3] It also protects C.elegans during food deprivation, causing it to transform into a hibernation - like state, known as a Dauer.[4] DAF-16 is notable for being the primary transcription factor required for the profound lifespan extension observed upon mutation of the insulin-like receptor DAF-2.[5] The gene has played a large role in research into longevity and the insulin signalling pathway as it is located in C. elegans, a successful ageing model organism.[6]

  1. ^ Lin, K.; Dorman, J. B.; Rodan, A.; Kenyon, C. (14 November 1997). "daf-16: An HNF-3/forkhead family member that can function to double the life-span of Caenorhabditis elegans". Science. 278 (5341): 1319–1322. Bibcode:1997Sci...278.1319L. doi:10.1126/science.278.5341.1319. PMID 9360933. S2CID 36088123.
  2. ^ Henderson, S. T.; Johnson, T. E. (11 December 2001). "daf-16 integrates developmental and environmental inputs to mediate aging in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans". Current Biology. 11 (24): 1975–1980. doi:10.1016/s0960-9822(01)00594-2. PMID 11747825. S2CID 12674040.
  3. ^ Lin, K.; Dorman, J. B.; Rodan, A.; Kenyon, C. (14 November 1997). "daf-16: An HNF-3/forkhead family member that can function to double the life-span of Caenorhabditis elegans". Science. 278 (5341): 1319–1322. Bibcode:1997Sci...278.1319L. doi:10.1126/science.278.5341.1319. PMID 9360933. S2CID 36088123.
  4. ^ Fielenbach, Nicole; Antebi, Adam (15 August 2008). "C. elegans dauer formation and the molecular basis of plasticity". Genes & Development. 22 (16): 2149–2165. doi:10.1101/gad.1701508. PMC 2735354. PMID 18708575.
  5. ^ Ogg, S; Paradis, S; Gottlieb, S; Patterson, GI; Lee, L; Tissenbaum, HA; Ruvkun, G (October 30, 1997). "The Fork head transcription factor DAF-16 transduces insulin-like metabolic and longevity signals in C. elegans". Nature. 389 (6654): 994–9. Bibcode:1997Natur.389..994O. doi:10.1038/40194. PMID 9353126. S2CID 4412006.
  6. ^ Kenyon, C. (29 November 2010). "The first long-lived mutants: discovery of the insulin/IGF-1 pathway for ageing". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 366 (1561): 9–16. doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0276. PMC 3001308. PMID 21115525.