New article in Science Advances from Simon Galas’s team!

Dsup, a tardigrade protein, extends the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans by inhibiting mitochondrial respiration and enhancing resistance to oxidative stress.

Tardigrades can survive extreme environments partly thanks to a protein called Dsup, which protects DNA from ionizing radiation and oxidative stress. Encoded by a unique tardigrade gene, the Dsup protein is largely unstructured but binds to nucleosomes to shield DNA from damage.

To investigate its protective role in a whole organism, we expressed the Ramazzottius varieornatus Dsup gene in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The worms displayed resistance to X-ray exposure and oxidative stress without apparent toxicity and showed a marked increase in lifespan. This effect is independent of the canonical DAF-2/DAF-16 longevity pathway.

Expression of Dsup significantly reduced mitochondrial respiration, providing a plausible mechanism for enhanced oxidative stress resistance and extended longevity. Our results demonstrate that the tardigrade Dsup protein can confer stress resistance and increased lifespan in another species, paving the way for numerous applications.

To read the article : https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx9669