Effects And Mechanisms Of Salicin On Longevity Of Drosophila Melanogaster

Aging is the process of degenerative changes in the tissues and organs of the body as they are aging.At present,significant progresses have been made in the regulation of longevity,mechanisms of aging-related diseases pathogenesis,anti-aging strategies and so on.The anti-aging with drug has great feasibility and reality,so it is urgent to screen and find new anti-aging drugs.Salicin(D-Salicin)is the main component of the extract of white willow bark,which has the roles of clearing heat,analgesia,anti-inflammation and delaying skin aging.Recently it has been also reported that white willow bark extract can extend the lifespan of nematodes.However,whether it remains anti-aging effects in Drosophila and other organisms,we need to further explore.Therefore,we take Drosophila as the research object to investigate whether salicin has anti-aging effect in fruit flies and further explore its mechanism of action.It has important theoretical and practical significance for anti-aging research.When adding 0.1μM of salicin to fly foods,the lifespan,antioxidant stress,fat storage level,anti-hunger ability and expression of ag-related genes were affected in Drosophila.Our main results have shown:(1)It can significantly prolong the lifespan of female fruit flies.By screening the effects of different concentrations of Salicin on the longevity of Drosophila melanogaster,it was found that Salicin treatment can extent the lifespan of Drosophila.We found that the optimum concentration of Salicin for lifespan extension was 0.1μM.The median lifespan of flies was prolonged by 8 days and its effect was about 14%.(2)It can significantly enhance the ability of Drosophila to resist oxidative stress.The results showed that Salicin treatment could significantly improve the resistance to hydrogen peroxide and paraquat in fruit flies,indicating that the antioxidant ability of Drosophila was significantly improved.(3)It can significantly increase the fat storage level and improve the ability of to the anti-starvation in Drosophila.We found that the storage level of triglycerides in fruit flies was significantly increased.The storage level of triglycerides could represent the storage level of fat in Drosophila.Increasing the level of fat storage in flies can improve its anti-starvation ability.(4)There were no significant side effects on the following traits in Drosophila.When Salicin was added,the reproductive capacity,exercise capacity,heat shock resistance and food intake of flies have no significant effects.On the contrary,it has a certain tendency to improve the reproductive and climbing ability.(5)It can significantly increase the expression of some aging-related genes.We detected the expression levels of aging-related genes Hsp70,Akt1,S6 K,ATG1,ATG5 and FOXO of Drosophila by q PCR.We found that there are no significant changes between Salicin-treated and control groups in the expression levels of heat shock-related genes Hsp70,insulin signaling pathway-related gene Akt1 and rapamycin signaling pathwayrelated genes S6 K.However,the expressions of autophagy-related genes ATG1,ATG5 and transcription factor gene FOXO have increased significantly compared with the control group,suggesting that Salicin may extend the lifespan of Drosophila by increasing the levels of autophagy and transcription factor FOXO.In summary,0.1μM of salicin in fly food can improve the health levels and extend the lifespan of Drosophila.The results of this study provide a theoretical rationale for further analyzing the genetic mechanisms of salicin in anti-aging.