The Research 

Janelia Research Campus Senior Group Leader Meng Wang and her team uncovered how changes in lysosomes, organelles once thought to be the cell’s recycling centers, are communicated from cells in the roundworm C. elegans’ body to its reproductive cells through histones — proteins that organize and regulate DNA. These changes modify the epigenome — a set of chemical tags that control the ability to turn genes on and off. Through this process, lysosomal changes that promote longevity can be passed to the organism’s progeny.   

The Background 

The team, which studies longevity, has shown that lysosomes are important for regulating the lifespan of roundworms, but the researchers did not know how these changes were being passed to subsequent generations without altering the underlying DNA. 

In the new research, the team sought to uncover the mechanism underlying the transfer of lysosomal information from cells in the worm’s body to its reproductive cells, where epigenetic information can be transmitted to the worm’s offspring.   

The Impact  

The research reveals a novel connection between lysosomes and the epigenome and provides new insights into how lysosomes regulate longevity over generations and drive the histone-based transfer of epigenetic information between cells.  

It also gives scientists a new way of understanding how epigenetic modifications that can help organisms cope with environmental stressors could be conferred from parents to their offspring.  

Read more about this new research at Janelia.org. external link, opens in a new tab