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The use of honeybees reared in a thermostatic chamber for aging studies

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Abstract

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are an attractive model system for studying aging. However, the aging level of worker honeybees from the field hive is in dispute. To eliminate the influence of task performance and confirm the relationship between chronological age and aging, we reared newly emerged workers in a thermostat at 34°C throughout their lives. A survivorship curve was obtained, indicating that workers can be reared away from the field hive, and the only difference between these workers is age. To confirm that these workers can be used for aging studies, we assayed age-related molecules in the trophocytes and fat cells of young and old workers. Old workers expressed more senescence-associated β-galactosidase, lipofuscin granules, lipid peroxidation, and protein oxidation than young workers. Furthermore, cellular energy metabolism molecules were also assayed. Old workers exhibited less ATP concentration, β-oxidation, and microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) than young workers. These results demonstrate that honeybees reared in a thermostatic chamber can be used for aging studies and cellular energy metabolism in the trophocytes and fat cells of workers changes with advancing age.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by CMRPD 170361 grant from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan. We thank Scott C. Schuyler for critically reading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan, 333, Taiwan

    Chin-Yuan Hsu

  2. Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan

    Chin-Yuan Hsu & Yu-Pei Chan

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  1. Chin-Yuan Hsu
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  2. Yu-Pei Chan
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Correspondence to Chin-Yuan Hsu.

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Hsu, CY., Chan, YP. The use of honeybees reared in a thermostatic chamber for aging studies. AGE 35, 149–158 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-011-9344-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-011-9344-z

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