Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 12 pp 4183—4197

Alpha-ketoglutarate extends Drosophila lifespan by inhibiting mTOR and activating AMPK

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Figure 2. Effects of AKG on reproduction, vertical climbing ability, and stress tolerance in wDah flies. (A) Fecundity assay. AKG decreased fecundity at concentrations of 1 and 5 μM (1 μM vs 0 μM AKG, p = 0.0013; 5 μM vs 0 μM AKG, p = 0.005; Wilcoxon rank test) and had no significant effect at 10 μM (10 μM vs 0 μM AKG, p > 0.05, Wilcoxon rank test). (B) RING assay. AKG-supplementation increased vertical climbing ability at 3 time points (20, 30, and 40 days) compared with the control diet (*p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01, two-tailed Student’s t-test). (C) Heat stress assay. AKG-treated flies were significantly more resistant to 39°C heat stress than control flies (5 μM AKG vs control, p = 0.0023, log-rank test). (D) Paraquat stress assay. There were no differences in sensitivity to paraquat stress between control and AKG-treated flies (5 μM AKG vs control, p > 0.05, log-rank test). (E) H2O2 stress assay. There were no differences in sensitivity to H2O2 stress between control and AKG-treated flies (5 μM AKG vs control, p > 0.05, log-rank test). All data are shown as the mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM).