TY - JOUR T1 - Cell fusion proteins can rejuvenate adult dendritic trees JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/062679 SP - 062679 AU - Veronika Kravtsov AU - Meital Oren-Suissa AU - Benjamin Podbilewicz Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/07/07/062679.abstract N2 - The convoluted architecture of dendritic arbors poses a challenge to understanding age-dependent alterations and regeneration following injury. Here, we show that induction of cellular fusogens can remodel and facilitate regeneration of dendrites in polymodal PVD neurons of aging Caenorhabditis elegans. Using whole-animal live imaging, we find that the PVD dendritic trees, composed of repetitive "menorah" units, show age-dependent hyperbranching, disorganization, and loss of self-avoidance. These processes, while independent of canonical lifespan-regulating pathways, can be partially rescued by ectopic expression of the fusogen EFF-1. Furthermore, the decreased capacity of old animals to repair laser-induced severed dendrites via auto-fusion can be restored by reducing DAF-2 (Insulin/IGF-1Receptor) function or by ectopic expression of the EFF-1 paralog AFF-1. Our findings demonstrate that fusogens are sufficient to maintain the dendritic arbor structure and increase its regeneration potential in aging animals. These antiaging strategies can be potentially applied to other organisms to protect them from neurodegeneration. ER -