

Our bodies are not just passively growing older.




The researchers discovered that brain-gut communication leads to what Xu calls an “axis of aging,” wherein the brain and intestines work together to regulate the worm’s longevity. The findings are scheduled for publication Feb. 28 in the journal Genes Development.

Using different environmental temperatures, which are known to affect roundworms’ lifespan, the researchers investigated how neurons process information about external temperature and transmit that information to other parts of the body. They identified two different types of neurons—one that senses warmth and the other coolness—that act on the same protein in the intestine, telling it to either slow down or speed up the aging process.

When the cool-sensing neuron detects a drop in temperature, it sets off a chain of communication that ultimately releases serotonin into the worm’s gut. This serotonin prompts a known age-regulating protein, DAF-16, to boost its activity and increase the worm’s longevity.

C. elegans roundworms viewed under a microscope. Image credit: Stephanie King, University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute.


Using these two paths, the brain is able to process cues from the external environment and then use that information to communicate with the intestine about aging. What’s more, these signals can be broadcast from the intestine to other parts of the body, allowing the neurons to regulate body-wide aging.


“From our findings, it’s clear that the brain and gut can work together to detect aging-related information and then disseminate that information to other parts of the body,” Xu said. “We think it’s likely that this sort of signaling axis can coordinate aging not only in C. elegans, but in many other organisms as well.”

Source: University of Michigan

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