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Monitoring Age-Related Changes in the Lactate/Pyruvate Ratio Using a Colorimetric Assay in a C. elegans Model of Increased Life Span

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Pre-Clinical Models

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1916))

Abstract

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), monitoring the lactate/pyruvate ratio in cells helps to detect imbalances in age-related energy metabolism. Here, we describe a modified small-scale extraction in C. elegans and measurement of lactate and pyruvate concentrations using colorimetric assay kits. During sample extraction, protein precipitation is the most critical step for precise determination of intracellular metabolites in C. elegans. Moreover, improved sensitivity and accuracy of colorimetric assay kits contributed to measurements of metabolites in samples derived from small-scale extraction. Using these protocols, we recently detected a metabolic alteration that occurs during aging by the monitoring the lactate/pyruvate ratio in a long-lived mutant of the mammalian tumor suppressor p53 ortholog CEP-1 in C. elegans.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a special research grant from Daito Bunka University to S.Y.

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Correspondence to Sumino Yanase .

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Yanase, S., Yasuda, K., Ishii, N. (2019). Monitoring Age-Related Changes in the Lactate/Pyruvate Ratio Using a Colorimetric Assay in a C. elegans Model of Increased Life Span. In: Guest, P. (eds) Pre-Clinical Models. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1916. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8994-2_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8994-2_12

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-8993-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-8994-2

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