Metabolic Signatures of Aging and Gametogenesis in Hydra oligactis.

Nicki Marami-Zonouz, Erwann Arc, Thomas Roach, Pidder Jansen-Dürr, Werner Bader, Bert Hobmayer, Ilse Kranner

Department of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.Department of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria. · pubmed

Paper

Abstract

Aging can be experimentally induced in Hydra oligactis, making it an exception among the "immortal" cnidarian genus Hydra. In response to cold temperatures, H. oligactis polyps switch from asexual to "emergency" sexual reproduction and eventually age and die. We used GC-MS-based metabolite profiling to characterize cold-induced (CI) metabolic reprogramming during concurrent sexual differentiation and aging in H. oligactis. Metabolites in four clusters either decreased or increased progressively until week 8, when animals were severely aged, whereas others peaked at sexual maturity after 4-6 weeks. At week 4, signatures of failing cytoprotection and neurotransmitter function appeared in both sexes, including a drastic reduction of taurine, whose deficiency is a known driver of aging in other organisms. Taurine supplementation partly reversed interstitial stem cell loss during the first 2 weeks of cold induction and subsequent sexual differentiation. Metabolites in the NAD

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Research summary

The study identifies metabolic changes associated with aging in Hydra oligactis and demonstrates that taurine supplementation can partially mitigate stem cell loss during this process. This represents an incremental advance in understanding the metabolic underpinnings of aging in basal metazoans, though the direct translational relevance to human longevity mechanisms remains limited.

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