Glucose delays age-dependent proteotoxicity

Abstract

Nutrient availability influences an organism's life history with profound effects on metabolism and lifespan. The association between a healthy lifespan and metabolism is incompletely understood, but a central factor is glucose metabolism. Although glucose is an important cellular energy source, glucose restriction is associated with extended lifespan in simple animals and a reduced incidence of age-dependent pathologies in humans. We report here that glucose enrichment delays mutant polyglutamine, TDP-43, FUS, and amyloid-β toxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans models of neurodegeneration by reducing protein misfolding. Dysregulated metabolism is common to neurodegeneration and we show that glucose enrichment is broadly protective against proteotoxicity.