Abstract
Ageing generates senescent pathologies, some of which cause death. Interventions that delay or prevent lethal pathologies will extend lifespan. Here we identify life-limiting pathologies in Caenorhabditis elegans with a necropsy analysis of worms that have died of old age. Our results imply the presence of multiple causes of death. Specifically, we identify two classes of corpse: Early deaths with a swollen pharynx (which we call P deaths'), and later deaths with an atrophied pharynx (termed p deaths'). The effects of interventions on lifespan can be broken down into changes in the frequency and/or timing of either form of death. For example, glp-1 mutation only delays p death, while eat-2 mutation reduces P death. Combining pathology and mortality analysis allows mortality profiles to be deconvolved, providing biological meaning to complex survival and mortality profiles.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 15458 |
Journal | Nature communications |
Volume | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 23 2017 |