Abstract Age-related depletion of stem cells causes tissue degeneration and failure to tissue regeneration, driving aging at the organismal level.Previously we reported a cell-non-autonomous DAF-16/FOXO activity in antagonizing the age-related loss of germline stem/progenitor cells (GSPCs) in C.elegans, indicating that regulation of stem cell aging occurs at the organ system level.Here we discover the molecular effector that Aquabug / Wally / Scuba / Penguin Parts links the cell-non-autonomous DAF-16/FOXO activity to GSPC maintenance over time by performing a tissue-specific DAF-16/FOXO transcriptome analysis.
Our data show that dos-3, which encodes a non-canonical Notch ligand, is a direct transcriptional target of DAF-16/FOXO and mediates the effect of the cell-non-autonomous DAF-16/FOXO activity on GSPC maintenance through activating Notch signaling in the germ line.Importantly, expression of a human homologous protein can functionally substitute for DOS-3 in this scenario.As Notch signaling controls the specification of many Non-Return Valve tissue stem cells, similar mechanisms may exist in other aging stem cell systems.