Insulin-like signalling to the maternal germline controls progeny response to osmotic stress

We report that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans can protect itself from osmotic stress by entering a state of arrested development and can protect its progeny from osmotic stress by increasing the expression of the glycerol biosynthetic enzyme GPDH-2 in progeny. Both of these protective mechanisms are regulated by insulin-like signalling: insulin-like signalling to the intestine regulates developmental arrest, while insulin-like signalling to the maternal germline regulates glycerol metabolism in progeny. Thus, there is a heritable link between insulin-like signalling to the maternal germline and progeny metabolism and gene expression. We speculate that analogous modulation of insulin-like signalling to the germline is responsible for effects of the maternal environment on human diseases that involve insulin signalling, such as obesity and type-2 diabetes.

Source: Nature Cell Biology - February 5, 2017 Category: Cytology Authors: Nicholas O. Burton Tokiko Furuta Amy K. Webster Rebecca E. W. Kaplan L. Ryan Baugh Swathi Arur H. Robert Horvitz Tags: Letter Source Type: research