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Oxidative Stress and Aging in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

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Oxidative Stress in Aging

Part of the book series: Aging Medicine ((AGME))

Summary

The senescent decline that leads inevitably to death in most animal species is accompanied by a massive increase in molecular damage. Yet, the chain of events that initially causes this process, and the determinants of the rate at which it happens, remain poorly understood. For many years, much research on this topic has been guided by an interrelated set of theories that view oxidative damage as a potential primary cause of aging. These theories have framed the construction and interpretation of many studies in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. In this chapter, we critically survey these studies. Overall, these investigations have either disproved or, at least, failed to find clear evidence for many of the oxidative damage theories. In particular, they have failed to demonstrate any role of metabolic rate or mitochondrial superoxide (O2 •−) in aging. However, they have revealed a powerful influence of mitochondria on the rate of aging in C. elegans. This may or may not have something to do with mitochondrial O2 •− production.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to J. R. Vanfleteren and F. Matthijssens for communication of unpublished information, and for their careful reading of this review in draft form. Any errors that might remain are the fault of the authors. This work was supported by the European Union and the Wellcome Trust.

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  1. Department of Biology, University College London, London, UK

    David Gems & Ryan Doonan

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  1. David Gems
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  2. Ryan Doonan
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Satomi Miwa PhD

  2. Functional Genomics Core, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA, USA

    Kenneth B. Beckman PhD

  3. Department of Cellular and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Florian L. Muller PhD

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Gems, D., Doonan, R. (2008). Oxidative Stress and Aging in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans . In: Miwa, S., Beckman, K.B., Muller, F.L. (eds) Oxidative Stress in Aging. Aging Medicine. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-420-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-420-9_6

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