Author:

Keywords:

MRJP1, Royalactin, Aging, Lifespan, Healthspan, Stress resistance, Apis Mellifera, Major Royal Jelly Protein 1

Abstract:

Royalactin is a glycoprotein essential for the development of long-lived queen honeybees. Only larvae fed with royal jelly, containing royalactin, develop into queens. Royalactin plays a central role in this process by switching on the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor signaling pathway, which ultimately leads to epigenetic changes and a long-lived queen phenotype. Recently it was shown that royalactin also extends lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster. Yet, the mechanism by which royalactin promotes longevity remains largely unknown. We set out to characterize the effects of royalactin on Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan, and clarify the possible involvement of EGF signaling in this process. We demonstrate that royalactin extends lifespan of this nematode by ~30% and that both EGF (LIN-3) and its receptor (LET-23) are essential for royalactin to exert its positive effects. Additionally, we show that royalactin enhances stress tolerance and locomotion in adult nematodes, implying that royalactin also influences healthspan. Our results support the rather novel notion that the EGF pathway, next to its important role in early development, may acts as a regulator of aging in adult animals. In short, we show that royalactin is an important lifespan-extending factor in royal jelly and acts by promoting EGF signaling in C. elegans. Further work is now being carried out to clarify which (secondary) signaling pathways are activated by royalactin, and how this ultimately translates into an extended health- and lifespan.