Electrophysiological measures of aging pharynx function in C. elegans reveal enhanced organ functionality in older, long-lived mutants.

The function of the pharynx, an organ in the model system Caenorhabditis elegans, has been correlated with lifespan and motility (another measure of health) since 1980. In this study, in order to further understand the relationship between organ function and lifespan, we measured the age-related decline of the pharynx using an electrophysiological approach. We measured and analyzed electropharyngeograms of wild type animals, short-lived hsf-1 mutants, and long-lived animals with genetically decreased insulin signaling or increased heat shock pathway signaling; we recorded a total of 2,478 electropharyngeograms from 1,374 individuals. As expected, the long-lived daf-2(e1370) and hsf-1OE(uthIs235) animals maintained pharynx function relatively closer to the youthful state during aging, whereas the hsf-1(sy441) and wild type animals' pharynx function deviated significantly further from the youthful state at advanced age. Measures of the amount of variation in organ function can act as biomarkers of youthful physiology as well. Intriguingly, the long-lived animals had greater variation in the duration of pharynx contraction at older ages.