Research Paper Volume 10, Issue 9 pp 2428—2458
Effects of N-acetyl-L-cysteine on lifespan, locomotor activity and stress-resistance of 3 Drosophila species with different lifespans
- 1 Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119991, Russia
- 2 Institute of Biology of Komi Science Center of Ural Branch of RAS, Syktyvkar 167982, Russia
- 3 Insilico Medicine, Inc, JHU, Rockville, MD 21218, USA
- 4 Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny 141700, Russia
Received: August 7, 2018 Accepted: September 13, 2018 Published: September 20, 2018
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.101561How to Cite
Abstract
N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) is a derivative of the sulphur-containing amino acid L-cysteine with potential anti-aging properties. We studied 3 Drosophila species with contrast longevity differences (D. virilis is longest-lived, D. kikkawai is shortest-lived and D. melanogaster has moderate lifespan) to test the effects of NAC at 8 different concentrations (from 10 nM to 100 mM) on the lifespan, stress-resistance and locomotor activity. Except the adverse effects of highest (10 mM and 100 mM) concentrations NAC demonstrated sexually opposite and male-biased effects on Drosophila lifespan, stress-resistance and locomotor activity and not satisfied the criteria of a geroprotector in terms of the reproducibility of lifespan extending effects in different model organisms. The concentration- and sex-dependent changes in the relative expression levels of the antioxidant genes (Cat/CG6871 and Sod1/CG11793) and genes involved in hydrogen sulfide biosynthesis (Cbs/CG1753, Eip55E/CG5345 and Nfs1/CG12264) suggest the involvement of hormetic mechanisms in the geroprotective effects of NAC.