A simplified design for the C. elegans lifespan machine

Mark Abbott¹, Stephen A. Banse², Ilija Melentijevic¹, Cody M. Jarrett², Jonathan St. Ange¹, Christine A. Sedore², Ron Falkowski¹, Benjamin W. Blue², Anna L. Coleman-Hulbert², Erik Johnson², Max Guo³, Gordon J. Lithgow⁴, Patrick C. Phillips², Monica Driscoll¹

Show Less

¹ Rutgers University, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

² Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA

³ Division of Aging Biology, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

⁴ The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, 94945, USA

JBM 2020 , 7(4), 1;

Published: 26 October 2020

© 2020 by the author. Licensee POL Scientific, USA. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

Download PDF

Cite

XML

Abstract

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) lifespan assays constitute a broadly used approach for investigating the fundamental biology of longevity. Traditional C. elegans lifespan assays require labor-intensive microscopic monitoring of individual animals to evaluate life/death over a period of weeks, making large-scale high throughput studies impractical. The lifespan machine developed by Stroustrup et al. (2013) adapted flatbed scanner technologies to contribute a major technical advance in the efficiency of C. elegans survival assays. Introducing a platform in which large portions of a lifespan assay are automated enabled longevity studies of a scope not possible with previous exclusively manual assays and facilitated novel discovery. Still, as initially described, constructing and operating scanner-based lifespan machines requires considerable effort and expertise. Here we report on design modifications that simplify construction, decrease cost, eliminate certain mechanical failures, and decrease assay workload requirements. The modifications we document should make the lifespan machine more accessible to interested laboratories.

Keywords

Caenorhabditis elegans

lifespan machine

automation

aging

longevity

anti-aging interventions

References

1. Sutphin GL, Kaeberlein M. Measuring Caenorhabditis elegans life span on solid media. J Vis Exp. 2009; 1–7. doi:10.3791/1152 19488025
2. Hulme SE, Shevkoplyas SS, McGuigan AP, Apfeld J, Fontana W, Whitesides GM. Lifespan-on-a-chip: microfluidic chambers for performing lifelong observation of C. elegans. Lab Chip. 2010;10: 589–97. doi:10.1039/b919265d 20162234
3. Churgin MA, Jung SK, Yu CC, Chen X, Raizen DM, Fang-Yen C. Longitudinal imaging of Caenorhabditis elegans in a microfabricated device reveals variation in behavioral decline during aging. Elife. 2017;6: 1–25. doi:10.7554/eLife.26652 28537553
4. Stroustrup N, Ulmschneider BE, Nash ZM, López-Moyado IF, Apfeld J, Fontana W. The Caenorhabditis elegans Lifespan Machine. Nat Methods. 2013;10: 665–70. doi:10.1038/nmeth.2475 23666410
5. Stroustrup N, Anthony WE, Nash ZM, Gowda V, Gomez A, López-Moyado IF, et al. The temporal scaling of Caenorhabditis elegans ageing. Nature. Nature Publishing Group; 2016;530: 103–7. doi:10.1038/nature16550 26814965
6. Banse SA, Lucanic M, Sedore CA, Coleman-Hulbert AL, Plummer WT, Chen E, et al. Automated lifespan determination across Caenorhabditis strains and species reveals assay-specific effects of chemical interventions. GeroScience. 2019;41: 945–960. doi:10.1007/s11357-019-00108-9 31820364
7. Brenner S. The genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1974;77: 71–94. Available: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1213120&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract 4366476
8. Yoshimura J, Ichikawa K, Shoura MJ, Artiles KL, Gabdank I, Wahba L, et al. Recompleting the Caenorhabditis elegans genome. Genome Res. 2019;29: 1009–1022. doi:10.1101/gr.244830.118 31123080
9. Caenorhabditis Intervention Testing Program. CITP Automated Lifespan Machine (ALM) SOPs [Internet]. 2019. doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4580546
10. Banse SA, Blue BW, Robinson KJ, Jarrett CM, Phillips PC. The Stress-Chip: A microfluidic platform for stress analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS One. 2019;14: e0216283. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0216283. 31042764
11. Lucanic M, Plummer WT, Chen E, Harke J, Foulger AC, Onken B, et al. Impact of genetic background and experimental reproducibility on identifying chemical compounds with robust longevity effects. Nat Commun. Nature Publishing Group; 2017;8: 14256. doi:10.1038/ncomms14256 28220799
12. Coleman-Hulbert A, Johnson E, Sedore C, Banse S, Guo M, Driscoll M, et al. Caenorhabditis Intervention Testing Program: the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate does not extend lifespan in nematodes. microPublication Biol. 2019; doi:10.17912/micropub.biology.000131
13. Coleman-Hulbert A, Johnson E, Sedore C, Banse S, Guo M, Driscoll M, et al. Caenorhabditis Intervention Testing Program: the creatine analog β- guanidinopropionic acid does not extend lifespan in nematodes. microPublication Biol. 2020; doi:10.17912/micropub.biology.000207 31998863
14. Morshead, ML; Sedore, CA; Jones, EG; Hall, D; Plummer, WT; Garrett, T; Lucanic, M; Guo, M; Driscoll, M; Phillips, PC; Lithgow, G (2020). Caenorhabditis Intervention Testing Program: the farnesoid X receptor agonist obeticholic acid does not robustly extend lifespan in nematodes. microPublication Biology. 10.17912/micropub.biology.000257
15. Lithgow GJ, Driscoll M, Phillips P. A long journey to reproducible results. Nature. 2017;548: 387–388. doi:10.1038/548387a 28836615
16. De Magalhaes Filho CD, Henriquez B, Seah NE, Evans RM, Lapierre LR, Dillin A. Visible light reduces C. elegans longevity. Nat Commun. Springer US; 2018;9. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-02934-5 29500338

Previous article in this issue

Next article in this issue

Journal of Biological Methods, Electronic ISSN: 2326-9901 Print ISSN: TAB, Published by POL Scientific

Publisher's Core Philosophy

We are committed to support the scientific community by publishing impactful research and enhancing communication among scientists. At POL Scientific, we are continuously looking for ways to accelerate scientific progress and to strive for transparency and open communication, making knowledge freely accessible without barrier.

171 Skyview St. San Francisco, CA 94131 U.S.A.

info@polscientific.com