The Experimental Research Center, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010 Oct 1;400(4):613-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2010.08.113. Epub 2010 Sep 7.
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an important solvent that is widely used in industry and medical studies, as well as in the study of aging, in which it is used as a negative control for lifespan assays; however, our data showed that 0.5% and 2% DMSO extended the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans by 24.4% and 23.0% (the first trial), respectively. Treatment with 0.5% DMSO did not affect the progeny number or the lifespan of C. elegans under thermal stress. Using real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), we found that the expression levels of hsp-16.2, hsp-70, lys-7, old-1, and sod-5 were enhanced by 2.5, 2.9, 1.3, 2.3, and 4.5-fold, respectively, after treatment with 0.5% DMSO. This suggests that these genes downstream of DAF-16 might function in the lifespan extension properties of DMSO. Using the transgenic strain lys-7::GFP, we found that treatment with 0.5% DMSO also caused expression levels of lys-7 increased by 1.5-fold. Genetic analysis using mutants of aging-related genes showed that lifespan extension in C. elegans by DMSO was dependent on sir-2.1 and daf-16 but not eat-2 or hsf-1. In summary, we report the function and the putative mechanism of DMSO in lifespan extension of C. elegans. This study draws attention to using DMSO as a solvent when conducting aging studies.
二甲基亚砜（DMSO）是一种重要的溶剂，广泛应用于工业和医学研究，以及衰老研究中，在衰老研究中，它被用作寿命测定的阴性对照；然而，我们的数据表明，0.5%和 2%的 DMSO 分别将秀丽隐杆线虫的寿命延长了 24.4%和 23.0%（第一次试验）。0.5%的 DMSO 处理不会影响热应激下秀丽隐杆线虫的后代数量或寿命。通过实时逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR），我们发现 0.5%的 DMSO 处理后，hsp-16.2、hsp-70、lys-7、old-1 和 sod-5 的表达水平分别增强了 2.5、2.9、1.3、2.3 和 4.5 倍。这表明 DAF-16 下游的这些基因可能在 DMSO 的寿命延长特性中发挥作用。使用 lys-7::GFP 的转基因菌株，我们发现 0.5%的 DMSO 处理也导致 lys-7 的表达水平增加了 1.5 倍。使用与衰老相关基因的突变体进行遗传分析表明，DMSO 延长秀丽隐杆线虫寿命依赖于 sir-2.1 和 daf-16，但不依赖于 eat-2 或 hsf-1。总之，我们报告了 DMSO 延长秀丽隐杆线虫寿命的功能和潜在机制。这项研究提醒人们在进行衰老研究时使用 DMSO 作为溶剂。
