Author response:
The following is the authors’ response to the original reviews.
Public Reviews:
Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary:
Hsiung et al. investigated whether the effects of autophagy gene knockdown on the lifespan of long-lived C. elegans mutants depend on experimental conditions. The authors first compiled published data on autophagy-dependent lifespan regulation in daf-2 and wild-type backgrounds, highlighting that prior results are notably inconsistent and likely context-dependent. They then systematically tested the lifespan effects of RNAi knockdown of six autophagy genes (atg-2, atg4.1, atg-9, atg-13, atg-18, and bec-1) in wild-type (N2), daf-2 (reduced insulin/IGF-1 signalling), and glp-1 (germlineless) animals, while varying temperature, daf-2 allele, FUDR concentration, and bacterial infection status.
The key findings are as follows. In wild-type animals, lifespan suppression by most autophagy gene knockdowns was more pronounced at 20˚C than at 25˚C, where little or no effect was observed. In daf-2 mutants, stronger lifespan suppression was seen in the weaker daf-2(e1368) allele at 20˚C, but not in the stronger daf-2(e1370) allele, and effects were largely absent at 25˚C. In glp-1 mutants, four of six gene knockdowns suppressed lifespan to a greater extent than in N2, though again in a temperature-dependent manner. FUDR at a high concentration (800 µM) abolished the life-shortening effects of most knockdowns and, in the case of atg-9 and atg-13, led to lifespan extension. Kanamycin treatment to eliminate bacterial proliferation did not fully account for the lifespan effects, suggesting that increased susceptibility to infection is not the primary mechanism. The authors also tested the programmed aging hypothesis that autophagy promotes lifespan reduction through biomass repurposing, but found no changes in vitellogenin levels upon knockdown of any of the six genes.
Altogether, among all genes tested, atg-18 knockdown produced the strongest and most consistent lifespan suppression across nearly all conditions, including both daf-2 and glp-1 backgrounds. The authors probed whether atg-18 acts through the FOXO transcription factor DAF-16 by examining dauer formation and ftn-1 expression, but found no evidence for this, suggesting a DAF-16-independent mechanism.
We thank the reviewer for their meticulous review of the manuscript. Responding to their comments (particularly those not in the public review) has improved it substantially.
Strengths:
The primary strength of this work lies in its systematic and comprehensive approach to dissecting how experimental variables influence the outcome of autophagy-lifespan epistasis tests. The compilation of prior data alongside the authors' own multi-condition dataset is a genuinely useful resource for the field. The study raises a timely and important point about condition selection bias, which is relevant not only to autophagy research but to C. elegans aging studies more broadly. The finding that atg-18 behaves distinctly from other autophagy genes across all conditions is noteworthy and opens avenues for future mechanistic work.
Weaknesses:
Despite its breadth, the study has several weaknesses that limit the strength of some conclusions.
(1) Variability in control lifespan data. The N2 lifespan values under ostensibly identical conditions (e.g., GFP RNAi at 20˚C) differ substantially across experiments (compare Tables S2, S5, S6, S7, and S9). Since N2 serves as the baseline for calculating whether the effect is greater in long-lived mutants via Cox proportional hazard (CPH) analysis, this variability in controls directly affects the reliability of those comparisons.
Such inter-trial variability in N2 lifespan is not unusual in studies of C. elegans aging, ostensibly identical conditions notwithstanding, and its causes are unknown. A careful C. elegans lifespan study from 2017 compared results of tests performed independently at 3 sites under similar conditions. This showed that inter-trial variation occurred mainly at each site over time, rather than between sites (Lucanic et al., 2017). We note that the data for our study was gathered over a 5-year period. One possibility is that this long time frame may have contributed to the variability seen.
Regarding statistical tests (whether the log-rank test to assess differences between pairs of populations, or the CPH test to assess differences between effects of treatments under two conditions): comparisons were made either of data within individual trials, or for pooled data. Thus, valid comparisons were made. We did not compare controls from one trial with treatments from another, which would have yielded misleading results.
(2) Limited biological replication. Most experiments were performed with only two biological replicates. In several cases, the two replicates yield contradictory outcomes: one showing significant lifespan suppression and the other showing no effect or even extension. The authors combine these into cumulative datasets for analysis, which, while not incorrect in principle, may obscure genuine irreproducibility. Given that the central message of the paper concerns variability and condition dependence, additional replication would have substantially strengthened confidence in the reported results.
This is a natural issue to raise. In tests of an effect of a given treatment on C. elegans lifespan, a minimum of 3 trials is standard, and in this lab as a rule we follow this convention. However, after careful consideration during the design stages we opted not to do so for this particular study. Our reasons are set out in the manuscript as follows.
“A methodological note: for tests of effects of a given intervention on C. elegans lifespan an often-applied standard is to include 3 biological replicates. This is true of several recent studies where the effect of knockdown of a single atg gene on daf-2 longevity was studied (Minnerly et al., 2017; Wilhelm et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2024). However, given that the present condition dependence study effectively performs this test in 18 different ways, involving RNAi of 6 atg genes, 2 daf-2 mutants and 2 temperatures, N = 2 biological replicates were judged to be sufficient to draw robust conclusions; similarly, an earlier study of RNAi 14 atg genes under two conditions used 2-3 biological replicates (Hashimoto et al., 2009); for an overview of N sizes in previous studies, see Table S1.”
While this approach has yielded robust broad conclusions (e.g. that atg gene RNAi generally does not suppress daf-2(e1370) Age), it is true that for any one given treatment (say, effects of atg-9 RNAi on daf-2(e1370) Age) one may not draw conclusions with a high degree of confidence, and we do not do so. We therefore argue that in a study of this nature, as for instance in a whole genome RNAi screen for lifespan effects, it is reasonable and expedient to drop below the 3 replicates minimum standard; here we agree with the Nishida lab’s similar judgement, and from that study too robust conclusions may be drawn.
(3) Low sample sizes in individual trials. A number of lifespan assays were conducted with only 40-50 worms per replicate, and in some cases, as few as 30. Such sample sizes are below the standard commonly used in the C. elegans aging field and are likely to contribute to the variability observed.
Please see our response to point 2, which in essence responds to this concern.
(4) RNAi efficacy measured only in N2 at 20˚C. The authors demonstrated that atg-2 and atg-4.1 RNAi did not significantly reduce target mRNA levels, which may explain their weaker lifespan effects. However, these same RNAi treatments significantly affected lifespan in several other conditions (e.g., daf-2(e1368) at 20˚C, glp-1 at 20˚C and 25˚C, and N2 with 15 µM FUDR). Measuring RNAi efficacy across different genetic backgrounds and conditions would be needed to properly interpret these variable results.
The study would indeed be strengthened by inclusion of target atg mRNA measurements under all of the various conditions tested. However, this would have required a very large number of qPCR tests to be run; we note that in previous assessments of atg RNAi effects on lifespan (listed in Table S1 and Table S6), such tests were rarely performed. Regarding RNAi effects on daf-2 mutants, we note in the text the following: “While mRNA levels after RNAi under the various other conditions tested were not assayed, reduced IIS (including daf2(e1370)) has been shown to intensify the RNAi response (Wang and Ruvkun, 2004), thus lack of effect on lifespan in daf-2(e1370) is unlikely to reflect suppression of mRNA knockdown.” Here we have at least assessed, using N2, the most important issue relating to RNAi efficacy: the differential effects of different RNAi feeding clones on atg mRNA levels.
(5) Incomplete mechanistic exploration. The investigation of why atg-18 knockdown has uniquely strong effects was limited to DAF-16. Given published evidence that atg-18 may regulate HLH-30/TFEB, a master transcriptional regulator of autophagy and lysosomal biogenesis, testing whether atg-18 specifically affects HLH-30 nuclear localisation or activity could have provided valuable mechanistic insight and would distinguish atg-18 from the other genes tested.
We would have readily investigated this. However we learned of the interactions between atg-18 and hlh-30 only in Nov 2025, when one of us (David Gems) bumped into a member of Evandro Fan’s research group at an aging meeting at the Crick Institute in London. Their findings were very interesting for us, as they offered a possible explanation for the seeming idiosyncrasy of atg-18 RNAi effects on lifespan. This subject is currently under investigation by the Fan lab at the University of Oslo, who recently posted a preprint describing the work (Schmauck-Medina et al., 2026).
Reviewer #2 (Public review):
Summary:
This study examines how genes involved in cellular recycling (autophagy) influence lifespan under different experimental conditions. The findings help clarify why previous studies have reported conflicting results about whether blocking autophagy shortens or extends lifespan. The work will be of interest to researchers studying aging and cellular stress responses, particularly those using model organisms.
We thank the reviewer for their helpful remarks. Responding to their comments (particularly those not in the public review) has enabled us to improve it.
Strengths:
The findings are valuable, as they help resolve inconsistencies within a specific subfield of aging research. The evidence presented is solid, as the data broadly support the primary claims of the study. In addition, the discussion is thorough and thoughtfully integrates the findings within the broader context of the field.
Weaknesses:
Additional functional validation would further strengthen the conclusions.
We very much agree. Our original plan for this study was to include autophagic flux assays under different conditions. However, this line of investigation led us to a careful reassessment of reporter-based approaches to measuring autophagic flux in C. elegans, and attempts to improve them. This includes development of an automated, AI-based quantitative image analysis pipeline to improve reproducibility and data interpretation across studies. This investigation is still ongoing, and we are currently preparing a separate manuscript focused specifically on methodological clarity and quantitative assessment of autophagic flux.
Recommendations for the authors:
Reviewing Editor Comments:
To increase the evidence provided by the authors, they should at least address the comments from Reviewer 1 regarding the experimental inconsistencies. We acknowledge that the additional experiments suggested by Reviewer 2 regarding the use of C. elegans mutants and additional methods to assess autophagic flux would likely be a lot of additional work. However, adding results from such experiments would, of course, make the evidence more compelling.
Reviewer #1 (Recommendations for the authors):
Writing and presentation
(1) The abstract discusses results for daf-2 in detail but does not mention the glp-1 findings. Given that a substantial portion of the study addresses glp-1 longevity, including a summary of those results in the abstract would better represent the scope of the work.
Agreed. glp-1 is now referred to in the abstract.
(2) In the abstract, the sentence regarding FUDR effects is placed between statements about daf2, while it is referring to N2 lifespans, which may give the impression that the FUDR results were obtained in a daf-2 background. Consider restructuring this section for clarity.
Agreed. To improve clarity this now reads as follows. “In wild-type C. elegans, FUDR at a high concentration caused knockdown of several atg genes to increase lifespan”
(3) The definition of "robust" used in Figure 4E could be misleading to readers. For instance, bec-1 and atg-4.1 knockdowns in glp-1 at 20˚C are classified as robust, yet the actual percent suppression is modest (~8% and ~3%, respectively) and non-consistent in individual replicates. The "robust" designation arises because these knockdowns slightly increased N2 lifespan. Clarifying the definition in the figure legend or text would help readers interpret this correctly.
For glp-1 at 20˚C robust suppression is seen with atg-2, atg-18 and bec-1 RNAi, not atg-4.1 RNAi. But regarding bec-1: yes, the suppression is modest. bec-1 RNAi is an unusual case insofar as it meets the <30% definition partly because it caused an increase in N2 lifespan. Under the circumstances, arguably, it makes little sense to view it as an example of robust suppression, and Figure 4E has been altered accordingly, with a note added to the legend as follows. “Note that the bec-1 RNAi effect on glp-1 at 20˚C is not classified as robust here even though it reduces lifespan to within <30% of the mean lifespan of N2 under bec-1 RNAi, since the fact that it does so partly reflects an increase in N2 lifespan, rather than a robust life-shortening effect on glp-1.”
To try to improve clarity we have altered the definition of “robust” to read as follows. “R, robust suppression, i.e. knockdown reduces the extended lifespan of daf-2 or glp-1 to within <30% of the mean lifespan of N2 under the same RNAi. This designation (“robust”) indicates a high degree of suppression of the mutant longevity phenotype (see Figure 2, Figure 5 and Fig. S2).”
(4) On page 12, the text should read "9/30 suppresses robustly" (currently appears to contain a numerical error).
Fixed. This now reads “In 8/30 the RNAi effect was robust, i.e. the mutant longevity was largely suppressed.” (Now 8/30 since bec-1/glp-1/20˚C is no longer viewed as robust suppression).
(5) In Supplementary Sheet 8, the lifespan data from Hashimoto et al. are presented in a different format than the data from other studies. Standardizing the presentation would improve readability.
This is Supplementary Table 1. The inconsistencies have been ironed out.
Data and calculations:
(6) In Supplementary Table S3, the ΔΔCt values for atg-9 appear to be incorrect. Please verify and correct.
We thank the reviewer for highlighting this error. The ΔΔCt values for atg-9 in Supplementary Table S3 were incorrectly entered; the Fold Change values had been mistakenly placed in that column. This error has now been corrected. Please note that analyses and conclusions reported in the manuscript were based on the correct values.
(7) In Supplementary Table S4, the standard deviation values do not match my independent calculations. Please double-check these values.
This is correct: there was an error in the standard deviation (SD) values. We thank the reviewer for their diligence. We have updated both the SD and SEM (standard error of mean) columns in Table S4. The mean ΔΔCt values remain unchanged, as do the conclusions from analyses and statistical tests.
(8) In Supplementary Table S7 (kanamycin experiment), there appear to be several errors in the percent change calculations. Additionally, the statement "In the absence of Kan, atg-13 RNAi caused a slight reduction in lifespan" is not supported by the combined data, which actually shows a slight increase. Given that the reported changes are subtle but statistically significant, it would be prudent to re-verify the p-value calculations as well before drawing conclusions from this experiment.
The calculation for trial 1 atg-13 (-Kan) as a percentage of control (L4440 Kan) has been corrected so that the mean lifespan of the knockdown is divided by the mean lifespan of the control. In the previous version, the ratio was inadvertently calculated in the opposite orientation. All other values remain unchanged.
Responding further to this point, to strengthen the data here we have also conducted an additional trial, and Figure 3D and Table S7 have been updated accordingly. The more robust data still supports the conclusion that E. coli infection does not mask a life extending effect of atg-13 RNAi. However, in the new, summed data, atg-13 RNAi on no Kan does not shorten lifespan at all, in contrast to our previous trials (conducted several years earlier), but consistent with several other instances of variability in the study. Moreover, the modest life-shortening effect of atg-13 RNAi on Kan (-6.7%) is now statistically significant. The manuscript has been updated accordingly.
Experimental interpretation
(9) On page 9, the authors report testing N2 and daf-2(e1370) lifespan at 15˚C and 20˚C, but only the daf-2 results are discussed in the text. The N2 results at 15˚C appear in Table S5 but are never addressed. Notably, bec-1 knockdown significantly suppressed N2 lifespan at 20˚C in Table S2 but appears to significantly extend it at both 15˚C and 20˚C in Table S5. These discrepancies should be discussed.
The issue of inter-trial variability is discussed in our response to point 1 in the public review. More specifically: here it may be significant that the trials listed in Table S5 were performed several years after those in Table S2. The discrepancy is now noted and discussed as follows. “In these trials bec-1 RNAi also modestly increased N2 lifespan at both temperatures (Table S5), surprisingly given that in previous trials (performed several years earlier) bec-1 RNAi shortened N2 lifespan (Table S2). The reason for this discrepancy is unknown.”
(10) Regarding the CPH analysis of bec-1 in daf-2(e1368) (Figure 1), the authors state that bec-1 knockdown does not have a significantly greater effect in daf-2(e1368) relative to N2, and then note that this is consistent with the earlier observation by Hansen et al. that bec-1 shortens daf-2 lifespan without affecting N2. However, in the cumulative dataset, bec-1 does significantly suppress N2 lifespan. A more precise statement here would prevent readers from drawing an incorrect conclusion.
The point here is that our study and the Hansen et al study both point to atg RNAi suppression of daf-2 Age being limited to class 1 mutants, not that there are no effects on N2. To try to improve clarity we have rephrased as follows. “These findings are broadly consistent with the earlier observation that bec-1 and vps-34 RNAi shortened the lifespan of the daf-2(mu150) class 1 mutant but not of N2 at 20˚C (CPH analysis not performed) (Hansen et al., 2008).”
(11) The reference to Hashimoto et al. (2009) on page 10 states that atg-9 and atg-13 RNAi increased lifespan, but that study does not include data for atg-13. The lifespan extension reported by Hashimoto et al. was for atg-7, atg-9, bec-1, and unc-51. Please correct this citation.
Done. It now reads “where atg-9 (and also atg-7, bec-1 and unc-51) RNAi increased lifespan”.
(12) In a previous publication from this group, atg-2 and atg-13 knockdown with 15 µM FUDR led to significant lifespan extension, whereas in the current study, the same treatments significantly suppressed lifespan. Although this discrepancy is briefly mentioned in the Discussion, a more thorough discussion of possible explanations would strengthen the manuscript's value as a reference dataset for future studies.
A more detailed discussion has been added, as follows. “Regarding the causes of variability between results of ostensibly identical tests performed under ostensibly identical conditions: one clue is provided by a study comparing results of lifespan assays performed across three sites under similar conditions. This revealed that inter-trial variation occurred mainly at each site over time, rather than between sites (Lucanic et al., 2017). One possibility is that this reflects batch variation in media components, such as the BactoPeptone constituent of nematode growth medium (Petrascheck, 2014).”
(13) The N2 mean lifespan on GFP RNAi with 0 µM FUDR at 20˚C is approximately 15 days, whereas the N2 lifespan at 20˚C in Table S2 is approximately 20 days. While inter-experiment variability is expected, a difference of this magnitude warrants acknowledgement, as it could influence the interpretation of subsequent comparisons.
We have now acknowledged this in the legend to Figure 3, as follows. “We note that in (A) the lifespan of the gfp RNAi control is somewhat lower than in other experiments (mean 14.96 days, Table S6); see Discussion for consideration of possible reasons for inter-trial variability.”
(14) Regarding the glp-1 experiments (page 11 and Table S9), the N2 lifespan values in these experiments differ from earlier N2 results at 20˚C for several knockdowns (e.g., bec-1 knockdown appears to increase N2 lifespan in Figure 4). Additionally, the glp-1 lifespan results are not consistent between the two replicates for most genes except atg-2 and atg-18. The developmental shift (raised at 25˚C, then moved to 20˚C to obtain the glp-1 phenotype) could plausibly account for some of this variation compared to animals raised continuously at 20˚C. If so, this should be explicitly discussed.
Agreed. The following has been added to the Figure 4 legend. “That bec-1 RNAi increases N2 lifespan in (A) (+16.7%, p < 0.0001) but not (B) could imply an interaction with temperature during development, or merely variability of atg RNAi effects (see Discussion).”
(15) At 25˚C, N2 lifespan shows significant suppression upon atg-13 and atg-18 knockdown in Table S9, while these same effects were non-significant in Table S2. These and other interexperiment discrepancies should be noted and, if there are identifiable experimental differences, those should be specified.
This discrepancy has now been noted on page 9, immediately after the description of the data in Table S2, as follows. “(although in later tests at 25˚C, life-shortening effects of atg-13 and atg-18 RNAi were seen; Table S9)”
(16) If autophagy is already regulated by heat stress at 25˚C, this could explain the diminished effects of autophagy gene knockdown at higher temperatures. Measuring autophagy gene expression by qPCR across different temperatures and genetic backgrounds could provide useful mechanistic insight.
Agreed. However, more informative will be to measure effects of temperature and genotype on autophagy more directly, using fluorescent reporters of autophagic flux. We are addressing this as part of an ongoing study using improved and fully validated autophagic flux measurement methodologies (please see our response to reviewer 2, public review).
(17) The authors report that atg-18 knockdown upregulates other autophagy genes (supplementary data). This is intriguing given that atg-18 shows the strongest phenotype. Whether this reflects a compensatory mechanism and why it does not rescue the lifespan suppression deserves further discussion.
On reflection we decided to remove from the manuscript the data relating to effects of atg-18 RNAi on mRNA levels of other atg genes due to concerns about data quality.
(18) Regarding the FUDR and infection hypothesis: the logic that reduced bacterial infection upon FUDR treatment explains the loss of lifespan suppression is reasonable, but it does not account for why atg-13 knockdown actively extends lifespan in the presence of FUDR. This point could benefit from further discussion. In the kanamycin experiment, they further see that life-shortening effects of atg RNAi are not solely attributable to infection, but the question of lifespan extension remains unanswered.
Good point. We have addressed this as follows. “We also conclude the increase in lifespan upon atg-13 RNAi in the presence of 800 μM FUDR (Figure 3C) is not attributable to suppression of E. coli infection, but rather to some other, unidentified mechanism.”
(19) The timing of when lifespan assays are initiated relative to other experimental treatments is another potential source of variability (as seen from earlier reported data) that could be acknowledged as a consideration for future studies.
Good point. We have added the following to the section of the discussion about tackling condition dependency issues. “Another factor to take into account is the apparent tendency of results of C. elegans lifespan assays to vary over time (Lucanic et al., 2017).”
Reviewer #2 (Recommendations for the authors):
Major Comments:
(1) Assessment of autophagic activity
The authors demonstrate by qPCR that feeding RNAi reduces mRNA levels of autophagy-related genes. However, reduced transcript levels do not necessarily confirm functional inhibition of autophagy. Incorporating established assays of autophagic flux, such as Western blot analysis of lipidated ATG-8 (LGG-1/ATG-8-II) or validated fluorescence-based reporters, would substantially strengthen the mechanistic conclusions.
We agree with the reviewer that direct assessment of autophagic flux would provide additional functional insight. We are currently performing complementary assays to directly assess autophagic flux using reporter-based approaches, with a focus on standardizing reporter-based measurements and developing a quantitative image analysis pipeline to improve reproducibility and interpretation across studies. These analyses will be presented in a separate manuscript focused specifically on methodological clarity and quantitative assessment of autophagic flux.
(2) Use of genetic mutants
Several C. elegans loss-of-function mutants for autophagy genes are available. Validation of key findings using selected genetic mutants, where feasible, would provide complementary evidence and enhance confidence in the RNAi-based results.
In principle is this a good idea. In practice many loss-of-function mutants in core autophagy genes exhibit developmental defects or impaired viability, which can confound interpretation in aging studies. As our aim was to examine the effects of autophagy gene perturbation specifically during adulthood, RNAi provided a practical approach that allowed post-developmental knockdown while minimising disruption of normal development.
Minor Comments:
(1) Context-dependent effects of autophagy
The findings are conceptually consistent with prior work demonstrating dual roles of autophagy in C. elegans survival during starvation, where physiological levels promote survival but insufficient or excessive autophagy contributes to mortality (Kang et al., Genes & Development, 2007). Including a discussion of this study would help frame the present results within a broader biological context.
Good idea to cite this study, and we have now done so in the introduction, as follows. “It is by now clear that autophagy can enhance as well as inhibit the development of pathologies in C. elegans, including senescent ones (Kang et al., 2007).”
(2) Relevance beyond C. elegans
It would be helpful for the authors to clarify whether similar context-dependent effects of autophagy on lifespan have been reported in other organisms. Briefly referencing comparable findings in additional model systems would broaden the relevance and impact of the study.
This is a good idea, but our search for similar cases in other model organisms failed to identify clear examples. Perhaps more to the point here is that context dependent effects and, perhaps, condition selection bias, are a serious issue in scientific research in general. To emphasize this, the following has been added as the last line of the discussion. “More widely, condition dependency and conditional selection bias risk diminishing the reliability of research findings in many scientific disciplines.”
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