A role for autophagy in the extension of lifespan by dietary restriction in C. elegans

Hansen M, Chandra A, Mitic LL, Onken B, Driscoll M, Kenyon C · 2008 · PLoS Genet · Atlas ID HAN2008

What this study shows

Makes autophagy a necessary step between dietary restriction and a longer life, not a side effect of it: blocking autophagy genes abolishes the lifespan extension produced both by dietary restriction and by TOR inhibition. The paper is equally careful about what autophagy cannot do on its own, because autophagy still runs in animals lacking DAF-16/FOXO and yet those animals are not long-lived. Boundary: worms; necessity was shown, sufficiency was not.

Abstract

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In many organisms, dietary restriction appears to extend lifespan, at least in part, by down-regulating the nutrient-sensor TOR (Target Of Rapamycin). TOR inhibition elicits autophagy, the large-scale recycling of cytoplasmic macromolecules and organelles. In this study, we asked whether autophagy might contribute to the lifespan extension induced by dietary restriction in C. elegans. We find that dietary restriction and TOR inhibition produce an autophagic phenotype and that inhibiting genes required for autophagy prevents dietary restriction and TOR inhibition from extending lifespan.

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At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Caenorhabditis elegans); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Caenorhabditis elegans
Journal	PLoS Genet
Year	2008
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-09-23
Source	DOI 10.1371/journal.pgen.0040024 · PMID 18282106

In the Atlas

Open questions that cite this study

Cited as supporting evidence for the open question Is autophagy actually REQUIRED for the mammalian lifespan benefit?.

Cite this paper

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Hansen, M., Chandra, A., Mitic, L. L., Onken, B., Driscoll, M., & Kenyon, C. (2008). A role for autophagy in the extension of lifespan by dietary restriction in C. elegans. PLoS Genet. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.0040024

@article{HAN2008,
  author       = {Hansen, M. and Chandra, A. and Mitic, L. L. and Onken, B. and Driscoll, M. and Kenyon, C.},
  title        = {{A role for autophagy in the extension of lifespan by dietary restriction in C. elegans}},
  journal      = {PLoS Genet},
  year         = {2008},
  doi          = {10.1371/journal.pgen.0040024},
  note         = {PMID: 18282106},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record HAN2008) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/HAN2008/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_HAN2008,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record HAN2008},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/HAN2008/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}