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The neurohormone tyramine stimulates the secretion of an insulin-like peptide from the Caenorhabditis elegans intestine to modulate the systemic stress response

Veuthey, Tania
Florman, Jeremy T
Giunti, Sebastián
Romussi, Stefano
De Rosa, María José
Alkema, Mark J
Rayes, Diego
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Abstract

The DAF-2/insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling (IIS) pathway plays an evolutionarily conserved role in regulating reproductive development, life span, and stress resistance. In Caenorhabditis elegans, DAF-2/IIS signaling is modulated by an extensive array of insulin-like peptides (ILPs) with diverse spatial and temporal expression patterns. However, the release dynamics and specific functions of these ILPs in adapting to different environmental conditions remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the ILP, insulin-3 (INS-3), plays a crucial role in modulating the response to various environmental stressors in C. elegans. ins-3 mutants display increased resistance to heat, oxidative stress, and starvation; however, this advantage is countered by slower reproductive development under favorable conditions. We find that ins-3 expression is downregulated in response to environmental stressors, whereas, the neurohormone tyramine, which is released during the acute flight response, increases ins-3 expression. We show that tyramine induces intestinal calcium (Ca2+) transients through the activation of the TYRA-3 receptor. Our data support a model in which tyramine negatively impacts environmental stress resistance by stimulating the release of INS-3 from the intestine via the activation of a TYRA-3-Gαq-IP3 pathway. The release of INS-3 systemically activates the DAF-2 pathway, resulting in the inhibition of cytoprotective mechanisms mediated by DAF-16/FOXO. These studies offer mechanistic insights into a brain-gut communication pathway that weighs adaptive strategies to respond to acute and long-term stressors.

Source

Veuthey T, Florman JT, Giunti S, Romussi S, De Rosa MJ, Alkema MJ, Rayes D. The neurohormone tyramine stimulates the secretion of an insulin-like peptide from the Caenorhabditis elegans intestine to modulate the systemic stress response. PLoS Biol. 2025 Jan 28;23(1):e3002997. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002997. PMID: 39874242; PMCID: PMC11774402.

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DOI
10.1371/journal.pbio.3002997
PubMed ID
39874242
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Copyright: © 2025 Veuthey et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.