Astaxanthin (AST), a xanthophyll belonging to the family of carotenoids, is a potent antioxidant. The effect of AST on longevity and its physiological and molecular mechanism are still unclear. In this study, we proved that AST could prolong the life span of Caenorhabditis elegans. To uncover whether AST could delay aging by upregulating autophagy, we measured the expression of autophagy gene and the life span of autophagy gene bec-1 mutant nematodes, and the results showed that the expression of autophagy gene was upregulated after AST intervention and the disruption of bec-1 weakened the extension of the life span. To explore the molecular mechanism of AST-induced autophagy upregulation, we knocked out the daf-16 or hlh-30 (key genes of insulin/insulin growth factor-1 [IGF-1] signal pathway or target of rapamycin [TOR] signal pathway) by RNA interference, and the expression of autophagy gene lgg-1 decreased. Collectively, our results strongly suggest that autophagy, which is both the insulin/IGF-1 signal pathway dependent and TOR signal pathway dependent, plays a role in the prolongation of the life span of Caenorhabditis elegans by AST.

中文翻译：

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自噬在虾青素延长秀丽隐杆线虫寿命中发挥作用

虾青素 (AST) 是一种属于类胡萝卜素家族的叶黄素，是一种有效的抗氧化剂。AST对长寿的影响及其生理和分子机制尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们证明了AST可以延长秀丽隐杆线虫的寿命. 为了揭示AST是否可以通过上调自噬来延缓衰老，我们测量了自噬基因的表达和自噬基因bec-1突变线虫的寿命，结果表明AST干预后自噬基因的表达上调并破坏了自噬基因的表达。 bec-1减弱了寿命的延长。为了探索 AST 诱导自噬上调的分子机制，我们敲除了 daf-16 或 hlh-30（胰岛素/胰岛素生长因子-1 [IGF-1] 信号通路的关键基因或雷帕霉素 [TOR] 信号通路的靶标基因） )通过RNA干扰，自噬基因lgg-1的表达降低。总的来说，我们的结果强烈表明，自噬既依赖于胰岛素/IGF-1 信号通路，也依赖于 TOR 信号通路，在延长其寿命方面发挥作用。AST 的秀丽隐杆线虫。