Cited by 153Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model OrganismsTelomeres, Telomerase, and SenescenceAutophagy in Disease and Therapy

Autofluorescence as a measure of senescence in C. elegans: look to red, not blue or green

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Pincus, Zachary, Mazer, Travis C, Slack, Frank J·2016·Aging

Abstract

In C. elegans, intestinal autofluorescence (sometimes referred to as lipofuscin or "age pigment") accumulates with age and is often used as a marker of health or the rate of aging. We show that this autofluorescent material is spectrally heterogeneous, and that materials that fluoresce under different excitation wavelengths have distinct biological properties. Red autofluorescence (visible with a TRITC filter set) correlates well with an individual's remaining days of life, and is therefore a candidate marker of health. In contrast, blue autofluorescence (via a DAPI filter set) is chiefly an indicator of an individual's incipient or recent demise. Thus, population averages of blue fluorescence essentially measure the fraction of dead or near-dead individuals. This is related to but distinct from the health of the living population. Green autofluorescence (via a FITC or GFP filter set) combines both properties, and is therefore ill suited as a marker of either death or health. Moreover, our results show that care must be taken to distinguish GFP expression near the time of death from full-body green autofluorescence. Finally, none of this autofluorescence increases after oxidative stress, suggesting that the material, or its biology in C. elegans, is distinct from lipofuscin as reported in the mammalian literature.

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Authors
Pincus, Z., Mazer, T. C., & Slack, F. J.
Affiliations
  • Washington University in St. Louis (US)
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Pincus, Zachary
Venue
Aging
Published
2016-04-10
Volume
8
Issue
5
Pages
889-898
ISSN
1945-4589 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2335974826
Cited by
153
References
27
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2
FWCI
5.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Aging (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Digital Commons@Becker (Washington University School of Medicine) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
National Institute on Aging (R01AG033921, K99AG042487, R00AG042487)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Autophagy in Disease and Therapy
Keywords
autofluorescence, Caenorhabditis elegans, senescence, lipofuscin, excitation wavelength, mortality, GFP expression, oxidative stress
MeSH terms
Animals, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Cellular Senescence, Caenorhabditis elegans, Oxidative Stress

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