Phycocyanin moderates aging and proteotoxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Phycocyanin (PC, isolated from Leptolyngbya sp. N62DM) was tested for its anti-aging and proteostasis-suppressive potential by using the Caenorhabditis elegans model. PC (100 μg mL−1) treatment to wild-type (N2) C. elegans extended the mean life span from 14.8 ± 0.5 to 19.1 ± 0.7 days. PC-treated aged worms showed better pharyngeal pumping and locomotion rate compared to similar age untreated animals. PC treatment also enhanced tolerance under thermo- and oxidative-stress in N2 C. elegans. Insulin/IGF-1 signalling (IIS) pathway has been reported as the major regulator of life span in C. elegans. We checked the involvement of insulin/IGF-1 signalling (IIS) pathway in PC-mediated life span extension. PC treatment prolonged the life span in mutants of both upstream (daf-2 and age-1) and downstream (daf-16) regulators of IIS pathway. Results thus indicated that PC-mediated life span expansion is independent from DAF-2–AGE-1–DAF-16 signalling pathway. Furthermore, PC curtailed the polyQ aggregation mediated proteotoxicity in C. elegans AM141 Huntington disease model under stressed (paraquat stress) as well as normal conditions. In conclusion, this report recognizes the in vivo antioxidant activity of PC in C. elegans and illustrates its potential to be used as a tonic against aging and age associated detrimental changes.