RESEARCH ARTICLE Ssd1 and Gcn2 suppress global translation efficiency in replicatively aged yeast while their activation extends lifespan Zheng Hu1†, Bo Xia2,3†, Spike DL Postnikoff1, Zih-Jie Shen1, Alin S Tomoiaga2,3,4, Troy A Harkness5, Ja Hwan Seol6, Wei Li7, Kaifu Chen2,3*, Jessica K Tyler1* 1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, United States; 2Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, United States; 3Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, United States; 4Manhattan College, Bronx, United States; 5Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada; 6Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, United States; 7Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center and Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, United States Abstract Translational efficiency correlates with longevity, yet its role in lifespan determination remains unclear. Using ribosome profiling, translation efficiency is globally reduced during replicative aging in budding yeast by at least two mechanisms: Firstly, Ssd1 is induced during aging, sequestering mRNAs to P-bodies. Furthermore, Ssd1 overexpression in young cells reduced *For correspondence: translation and extended lifespan, while loss of Ssd1 reduced the translational deficit of old cells
[email protected] and shortened lifespan. Secondly, phosphorylation of eIF2a, mediated by the stress kinase Gcn2, (KC); was elevated in old cells, contributing to the global reduction in translation without detectable
[email protected] (JKT) induction of the downstream Gcn4 transcriptional activator. tRNA overexpression activated Gcn2 in †These authors contributed young cells and extended lifespan in a manner dependent on Gcn4.