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  • High-glucose diets induce mitochondrial dysfunction in Caenorhabditis elegans.

High-glucose diets induce mitochondrial dysfunction in Caenorhabditis elegans.

PloS one (2019-12-18)
Jonathan Alcántar-Fernández, Angélica González-Maciel, Rafael Reynoso-Robles, Martha Elva Pérez Andrade, Alain de J Hernández-Vázquez, Antonio Velázquez-Arellano, Juan Miranda-Ríos
ABSTRACT

Glucose is an important nutrient that dictates the development, fertility and lifespan of all organisms. In humans, a deficit in its homeostatic control might lead to hyperglucemia and the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes, which show a decreased ability to respond to and metabolize glucose. Previously, we have reported that high-glucose diets (HGD) induce alterations in triglyceride content, body size, progeny, and the mRNA accumulation of key regulators of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans (PLoS ONE 13(7): e0199888). Herein, we show that increasing amounts of glucose in the diet induce the swelling of both mitochondria in germ and muscle cells. Additionally, HGD alter the enzymatic activities of the different respiratory complexes in an intricate pattern. Finally, we observed a downregulation of ceramide synthases (hyl-1 and hyl-2) and antioxidant genes (gcs-1 and gst-4), while mitophagy genes (pink-1 and dct-1) were upregulated, probably as part of a mitohormetic mechanism in response to glucose toxicity.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
AccuTaq LA DNA Polymerase, High fidelity Taq enzyme, with 10X buffer & DMSO
Sigma-Aldrich
Citrate Synthase Assay Kit, 1 kit sufficient for 100 reactions (using a 1 ml cuvette), 1 kit sufficient for 480 reactions (using 96 multiwell plates)