[2015 Spring Life Sciences & IBB Regular Seminar] 
     
       
  ▶Subject: Fatal Attraction: The links between mating, reproductive behavior, and longevity
     
  ▶Speaker: Prof. Coleen Murphy (Princeton University)
            

  ▶Date: 4:00PM/March/27(Fri.)/2015
      
  ▶Place: Auditorium(1F), Postech Biotech Center
    
          *Abctract
         Longevity is a remarkably plastic trait, governed by genetic programs that allow an organism to respond appropriately to environmental cues. Until this point, the aging field has almost exclusively studied normal aging and extended lifespan, such as that induced by caloric restriction or reduced insulin signaling. We have shown that extended longevity is itself likely a byproduct of the need to adjust somatic aging rates to allow optimal reproduction, because somatic integrity is required for successful reproduction late in life.
However, we recently discovered a novel, third state of longevity: when Caenorhabditis females mate, they shrink up to 30% and die soon after producing their last progeny, shortening their lifespan by 50%. Male sperm induces germline proliferation and subsequent shrinking through the DAF-12/NHR control of osmotic regulation, and seminal fluid separately regulates DAF-16/FOXO nuclear exit and lifespan shortening. The shrinking signal is dynamic, and correlates with proliferation of germline stem cells. This remarkable phenomenon is not merely a characteristic of C. elegans hermaphrodite mating, as species with true females (e.g., C. remanei) also undergo shrinking and death after mating. Thus, for gonochoristic species, which must mate to reproduce, such a fate is unavoidable. This bizarre yet conserved phenomenon prompts the question, “Why?” We hypothesize that post-mating shrinking and death may be an example of sexual antagonism: males have hijacked the longevity pathways that are normally used by females to extend lifespan and slow reproduction in the face of environmental stresses.

  ▶Inquiry: Prof.Lee, Seung-Jae(279-2351)
          
    
    * This seminar will be given in English.
please refrain from taking photos during seminars. *