SUMMARY The progressive loss of muscle strength during aging is a common degenerative event of unclear pathogenesis. Although muscle functional decline precedes age-related changes in other tissues, its contribution to systemic aging is unknown. Here, we show that muscle aging is characterized in Drosophila by the progressive accumulation of protein aggregates that associate with impaired muscle function. The transcription factor FOXO and its target 4E-BP remove damaged proteins at least in part via the autophagy/lysosome system, while foxo mutants have dysfunctional proteostasis. Both FOXO and 4E-BP delay muscle functional decay and extend lifespan. Moreover, FOXO/4E-BP signaling in muscles decreases feeding behavior and the release of Insulin from producing cells, which in turn delays the age-related accumulation of protein aggregates in other tissues. These findings reveal an organism-wide regulation of proteostasis in response to muscle aging, and a key role of FOXO/4E-BP signaling in the coordination of organismal and tissue aging.

A characteristic feature of aged humans and other mammals is the debilitating, progressive loss of skeletal muscle function and mass that is known as sarcopenia. Age-related muscle dysfunction occurs to an even greater extent during the relatively short lifespan of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Studies in model organisms indicate that sarcopenia is driven by a combination of muscle tissue extrinsic and intrinsic factors, and that it fundamentally differs from the rapid atrophy of muscles observed following disuse and fasting. Extrinsic changes in innervation, stem cell function and endocrine regulation of muscle homeostasis contribute to muscle aging. In addition, organelle dysfunction and compromised protein homeostasis are among the primary intrinsic causes. Some of these age-related changes can in turn contribute to the induction of compensatory stress responses that have a protective role during muscle aging. In this Review, we outline how studies in Drosophila and mammalian model organisms can each provide distinct advantages to facilitate the understanding of this complex multifactorial condition and how they can be used to identify suitable therapies.

Summary Changes in fat content have been associated with dietary restriction (DR), but whether they play a causal role in mediating various responses to DR remains unknown. We demonstrate that upon DR, Drosophila melanogaster shift their metabolism towards increasing both fatty acid synthesis and breakdown, which is required for various responses to DR. Inhibition of fatty acid synthesis or oxidation genes specifically in the muscle tissue inhibited lifespan extension upon DR. Furthermore, DR enhances spontaneous activity of flies which was found to be dependent on the enhanced fatty acid metabolism. This increase in activity was found to be at least partially required for the lifespan extension upon DR. Over-expression of adipokinetic hormone (dAKH), the functional ortholog of glucagon, enhances fat metabolism, spontaneous activity and lifespan. Together, these results suggest that enhanced fat metabolism in the muscle and physical activity play a key role in the protective effects of DR.

Drosophila larval skeletal muscles are single, multinucleated cells of different sizes that undergo tremendous growth within a few days. The mechanisms underlying this growth in concert with overall body growth are unknown. We find that the size of individual muscles correlates with the number of nuclei per muscle cell and with increasing nuclear ploidy during development. Inhibition of Insulin receptor (InR; Insulin-like receptor) signaling in muscles autonomously reduces muscle size and systemically affects the size of other tissues, organs and indeed the entire body, most likely by regulating feeding behavior. In muscles, InR/Tor signaling, Foxo and dMyc (Diminutive) are key regulators of endoreplication, which is necessary but not sufficient to induce growth. Mechanistically, InR/Foxo signaling controls cell cycle progression by modulating dmyc expression and dMyc transcriptional activity. Thus, maximal dMyc transcriptional activity depends on InR to control muscle mass, which in turn induces a systemic behavioral response to allocate body size and proportions.