The DNA damage response in ageing, disease and inheritance: new insights from C. elegans

Ageing is an inherent property of somatic tissues. In contrast, germ cells indefinitely perpetuate the genetic information. According to the disposable soma theory, selective pressure has shaped maintenance and repair mechanisms that ensure somatic functioning early in life, while the soma may decay upon successful reproduction. We focus on three central questions: (1) which processes determine somatic maintenance and thus control ageing, (2) how is somatic maintenance adapted to the requirements of the germline, and (3) what are the underlying mechanisms for germ cell immortality?

Genome stability is prerequisite for the inheritance, germline immortality, and species preservation. We will here discuss new concepts of genome maintenance mechanisms in the germline and how paternal DNA damage can have transgenerational consequences. We will also provide conceptual insight into how germline DNA repair mechanisms could be employed to augment somatic genome maintenance.