Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 7129 Rangos Research Centre, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 4401 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224, United States.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 7129 Rangos Research Centre, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 4401 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224, United States.
Methods. 2014 Aug 1;68(3):465-75. doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2014.04.002. Epub 2014 Apr 13.
Since the discovery of single gene mutations that double its lifespan, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has provided remarkable insights into the biology of aging. The precisely measurable lifespan of worms has proven to be an efficient tool to assess the impact of various genetic, physiological and environmental factors on organismal aging. In this article, we describe methods to set up and monitor experiments to determine worm lifespan. We include procedures used for classical, small-scale lifespan assays that are generally performed on solid media, and review recent advances in high-throughput, automated longevity experiments conducted in liquid culture and microfluidic devices. In addition, tools that help analyze this data to obtain survival statistics are summarized, and C. elegans strains that offer particular advantages for lifespan studies are listed.
自发现能使线虫寿命延长一倍的单个基因突变以来，秀丽隐杆线虫已为衰老生物学提供了显著的见解。线虫可精确测量的寿命已被证明是一种有效的工具，可用于评估各种遗传、生理和环境因素对生物体衰老的影响。在本文中，我们描述了设置和监测实验以确定线虫寿命的方法。我们包括了通常在固体培养基上进行的经典、小规模寿命测定所使用的程序，并回顾了在液体培养和微流控装置中进行的高通量、自动化长寿实验的最新进展。此外，还总结了有助于分析这些数据以获得生存统计数据的工具，并列出了对线虫寿命研究具有特殊优势的品系。
