# The mechanisms of serotonin-based signaling in food perception and DR-mediated longevity

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $19,101

## Abstract

Project Summary.
It is estimated that by 2050 the number of US citizens over the age of 65 will reach nearly 100 million, more
than twice as many as today. As the demographics of the modern world continue to skew older, understanding
and mitigating the aging process has become increasingly important within biomedical research. Aging
researchers have made many discoveries in the past 25 years and have demonstrated that slowing aging can
prevent or delay the formation of many diseases and improve overall health. Many of these conserved
“longevity pathways” were initially discovered using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, where easy genetic
manipulation and brief lifespans benefit aging research.
A number of these highly regarded publications have identified multiple genetic pathways that link the
perception of stress by the nervous system with distinct signaling networks and downstream effectors that
improve health and longevity. While these studies provide substantial evidence that cell to cell signaling
regulates aging and is common to multiple longevity pathways, they lack the specific signals, receptors, neural
circuits, and downstream effectors involved. Some of these studies have reported the important
neurotransmitter serotonin as a necessary signaling molecule upstream of the metabolic changes that occur in
peripheral tissues, which corroborates the preliminary data I will present in this proposal. More specifically, our
data show that the most well-studied longevity intervention, dietary restriction (DR), acts in part through a cell
non-autonomous signaling pathway that is inhibited by the smell of food in C. elegans. We further find that DR
leads to induction of an intestinal gene, flavin-containing monooxygenase-2 (fmo-2), that is both necessary and
sufficient to improve healthspan, stress resistance, and longevity. We also observe that induction of fmo-2 and
extension of lifespan both depend on the serotonergic signaling and can be recapitulated by the serotonin
antagonist drug, mianserin.
This project will elucidate components of the cell non-autonomous pathway initiated by the lack of food that
eventually leads to intestinal fmo-2 induction and extension of lifespan. To that end I will identify the
serotonergic neuron which initiates the signaling cascade (Aim 1), and determine which neuron receives that
signal (Aim 2). From here, I will discover the signaling events that occur downstream of serotonin release (or
absence) using a number of screening methods (Aim 3). Collectively, these aims will enhance our
understandings of a highly conserved signaling pathway that modifies aging. The ultimate goal of my research
is to exploit the biological insights gained here to develop therapeutics that increase human healthspan.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9982159
- **Project number:** 5F31AG060663-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Hillary Ann Miller
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $19,101
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-20 → 2021-03-19

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9982159

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9982159, The mechanisms of serotonin-based signaling in food perception and DR-mediated longevity (5F31AG060663-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9982159. Licensed CC0.

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