The Caenorhabditis elegans homolog of mortalin/mthsp70/Grp75 (called
mot-2 hereafter) was isolated by screening of a nematode cDNA library with mouse
mot-2 cDNA. The isolated clone matched to
hsp70F of C. elegans. Analysis with two of the antibodies raised against
hsp70F revealed that unlike mammalian
mot-2, it is heat inducible. Transient induction of
hsp70F by heat shock led to a slight (<13%) extension in the C. elegans life span. The transgenic worms that constitutively over-expressed
hsp70F predominantly in muscle showed life span extension (approximately 43% for mean and approximately 45% for maximum life span) as compared to the wild-type and green fluorescent protein-transgenic worms. Life span extension of human cells was obtained by over-expression of
mot-2 [Kaul et al. (2000) FEBS Lett. 474, 159-164]. Our results show, for the first time, that this member of the
hsp70 family governs the longevity of worms and thus there are common pathways that determine mammalian and worm longevity.