Studies on C. elegans probed with estradiol, elucidate the critical role of Na+/H+ exchanger, nhx-2 in reproductive senescence and neuronal health

Setting in of reproductive senescence (RS) gives rise to several changes, making aged individuals susceptible to multiple disorders including neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular ailments and bone disorders amongst others. The present study, employing transgenic C. elegans that expresses human alpha synuclein, endeavors to decipher the association of reproductive senescence with age-associated neurodegenerative diseases and behavioral ageing, under normal conditions and after being probed with estradiol. We carried out RNAi induced silencing of a subset of 22 genes that are known to delay RS, followed by studies on alpha-Synuclein aggregation and associated effects. These studies led us to functional characterization of the Na+/H+ exchanger; nhx-2, expressed exclusively in gut. We found that RNAi of nhx-2 not only ameliorates the effects associated with alpha-Synuclein aggregation, but it also attunes effects related to behavioral aging including that of reproductive health-span and neuroprotection via mimicking dietary restriction, as it alters food absorption from the gut. We further elucidated that these effects are Sir-2.1 driven as nhx-2 knock out did not delay reproductive senescence in knock down condition of sir-2.1. To substantiate our findings, we performed whole transcriptome analysis in nhx-2 mutant strain. Our data revealed differential expression of 61 out of 62 hallmark genes of CR described by GenDR, in knock out condition of nhx-2. As estradiol plays a central role in both reproductive health as well as neuronal health, we subjected worms to exogenous estradiol treatment and observed that it led to elevated levels of nhx-2. Studies on structural binding analysis demonstrated significant binding potential of estradiol receptor NHR-14 with nhx-2 gene and ChIP analysis revealed that estradiol treatment gives rise to enhanced NHX-2 levels through inducing the promoter specific histone H3 acetylation (H3K9) and lysine methylation (H3K4me3). These studies identify nhx-2 as an important modulator that extends reproductive longevity and ameliorates effects associated with alpha synuclein aggregation in C elegans. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=176 SRC="FIGDIR/small/229344v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (55K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@917377org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@133a07dorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@6d6f28org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@9cde9a_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG HIGHLIGHTSO_LISilencing of sodium proton antiporter nhx-2 affords neuroprotection and ameliorates effects associated with alpha-Synuclein aggregation via mimicking dietary restriction in C. elegans. C_LIO_LIExogenous 17-{beta}-Estradiol treatment induces the expression of nhx-2, through inducing the promoter specific histone H3 acetylation (H3K9) and lysine methylation (H3K4me3). C_LIO_LIEffects associated with nhx-2, including prolonged reproductive span and neuroprotective effects, are SIR-2.1 driven. C_LIO_LInhx-2 silencing decreases alpha-Synuclein aggregation, however; estradiol mediated overexpression above the endogenous levels, does not amend the aggregation any further. C_LI