Neurosecretory control of aging in Caenorhabditis elegans

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, an insulin receptor signaling pathw ay regulates adult life span and developmental arrest at the dauer lar,al s tage. Here ne show that the unc-64 and unc-31 genes also function in this p athway. These tno genes are involved in mediating Ca2+-regulated secretion, Mutations in unc-64 and unc-31 increase adult life span and cause constitu tive dauer formation. Both phenotypes are suppressed by; mutations in daf-1 6, which also suppresses other mutations in this pathway. We present eviden ce that the site of action of unc-64 is neuronal, suggesting that a neurose cretory signal regulates life span and dauer formation.