bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/240606; this version posted December 28, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. Boosting ATM Activity Promotes Longevity in Nematodes and Mice Minxian Qian,1,2,3,6 Zuojun Liu,1,2,3,6 Linyuan Peng, 1,2,3 Fanbiao Meng,1,2,3 Xiaolong Tang,1,2,3 Ying Ao,1,3 Lei Shi,1,2,5 Mingyan Zhou,1,2,3 Ming Wang,1,2,4 Baoming Qin,4 Xinyue Cao,1,2,3 Zimei Wang,1,3 Zhongjun Zhou,5 Baohua Liu1,2,3* 1Guangdong Key Laboratory of Genome Stability and Human Disease Prevention, 2Medical Research Center, 3Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen 518060, China 4South China Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530, China 5School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong 6Minxian Qian and Zuojun Liu contributed equally to this work. *Correspondence should be addressed to Dr Baohua Liu (
[email protected]). Abstract DNA damage accumulates with age1. However, whether and how robust DNA repair machinery promotes longevity is elusive. Here, we demonstrate that activation of ataxia- telangiectasia mutated (ATM) via low dose of chloroquine (CQ) promotes DNA damage clearance, rescues age-related metabolic shift, and extends lifespan in nematodes and mice. Molecularly, ATM phosphorylates SIRT6 deacetylase and thus prevents MDM2- mediated ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation.