PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Cyril Statzer AU - Richard Venz AU - Monet Bland AU - Stacey Robida-Stubbs AU - Jin Meng AU - Krina Patel AU - Raffaella Emsley AU - Dunja Petrovic AU - Pengpeng Liu AU - Ianessa Morantte AU - Cole Haynes AU - Milos Filipovic AU - William B. Mair AU - Alban Longchamp AU - T. Keith Blackwell AU - Collin Y. Ewald TI - ATF-4 and hydrogen sulfide signalling mediate longevity from inhibition of translation or mTORC1 AID - 10.1101/2020.11.02.364703 DP - 2020 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 2020.11.02.364703 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/11/02/2020.11.02.364703.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/11/02/2020.11.02.364703.full AB - Inhibition of mTORC1 (mechanistic target of rapamycin 1) slows ageing, but mTORC1 supports fundamental processes that include protein synthesis, making it critical to elucidate how mTORC1 inhibition increases lifespan. Under stress conditions, the integrated stress response (ISR) globally suppresses protein synthesis, resulting in preferential translation of the transcription factor ATF-4. Here we show in C. elegans that the ATF-4 transcription program promotes longevity and that ATF-4 upregulation mediates lifespan extension from mTORC1 inhibition. ATF-4 activates canonical anti-ageing mechanisms but also increases expression of transsulfuration enzymes to promote hydrogen sulfide (H2S) production. ATF-4-induced H2S production mediates longevity and stress resistance from C. elegans mTORC1 suppression, and ATF4 drives H2S production in mammalian dietary restriction. This H2S boost increases protein persulfidation, a protective modification of redox-reactive cysteines. Increasing H2S levels, or enhancing mechanisms that H2S modulates through persulfidation, may represent promising strategies for mobilising therapeutic benefits of the ISR or mTORC1 inhibition.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.