Transcriptional memory of dFOXO activation in youth curtails later-life mortality

Identifying processes occurring in early life affect subsequent life and health span is an urgent aim to improve human health. In this study, we identified a novel mechanism of dFOXO in longevity determination in Drosophila. We found that early adulthood induction of dFOXO is sufficient to reduce mortality in old age through different pathways than chronic dFOXO. We showed that dFOXO requires specific ATP-dependent chromatin modifiers to extend lifespan, and we could mimic this lifespan extension by modulating dFOXO’s targets in later life. Furthermore, dFOXO in early life induces a specific transcriptional programme that counteracts the natural transcriptomic changes occurring with age. Our findings provide a better understanding of transcriptional mechanisms related to longevity and opens new avenues for possible time-restricted interventions to improve human health in the future.