Pharmacological convergence reveals a lipid pathway that regulates C. elegans lifespan

Abstract

Phenotypic screening has identified small-molecule modulators of aging, but the mechanism of compound action often remains opaque due to the complexities of mapping protein targets in whole organisms. Here, we combine a library of covalent inhibitors with activity-based protein profiling to coordinately discover bioactive compounds and protein targets that extend lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans. We identify JZL184—an inhibitor of the mammalian endocannabinoid (eCB) hydrolase monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL or MGLL)—as a potent inducer of longevity, a result that was initially perplexing as C. elegans does not possess an MAGL ortholog. We instead identify FAAH-4 as a principal target of JZL184 and show that this enzyme, despite lacking homology with MAGL, performs the equivalent metabolic function of degrading eCB-related monoacylglycerides in C. elegans. Small-molecule phenotypic screening thus illuminates pure pharmacological connections marking convergent metabolic functions in distantly related organisms, implicating the FAAH-4/monoacylglyceride pathway as a regulator of lifespan in C. elegans.Phenotypic screening identifies a small-molecule inhibitor of the C. elegans serine hydrolase FAAH-4 that promotes longevity and identifies the enzyme as the functional homolog of mammalian monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL).