ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1658991
Selaginella Extracts Extend Lifespan and Mitigate Oxidative Stress in Caenorhabditis elegans
Provisionally accepted
Xueqing Chen1
Bing Jian Yan2
Yingmei Wu2Wenjing Quan2Yu Liu2Yaning Huang2yinjie Shao2Yuan Wang1Qi Zhou1
Yifei Liu2Songlin Liu2Jing Wang3
Pan Li4Zhaohua Shi2*Peng Shu1*
Junbo Gou2*- 1Shenzhen Hujia Technology Co Ltd, Shenzhen, China
- 2Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China
- 3Western Herbs (Hubei) Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Wuhan 430070, China, Wuhan, China
- 4South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
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Selaginella species have been traditionally used in medicine and cosmetics, yet their potential lifespan-extending properties remain underexplored. In this study, two representative Selaginella extracts—S4 (high in amentoflavone) and S16 (low in amentoflavone)—were selected for evaluation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Both extracts extended lifespan under normal conditions and modulated conserved longevity pathways, such as MAPK and FOXO signaling, with daf-16 and egl-8 identified as key hub genes. Amentoflavone was further validated as a critical bioactive component, extending lifespan by 63.81% and enhancing stress resistance. It promoted DAF-16 nuclear translocation and upregulation of antioxidant genes (e.g., sod-3, gst-3/4, hsp-16.48/12.6), thereby reducing ROS levels. These results demonstrate that Selaginella extract and amentoflavone delay aging primarily via DAF-16/FOXO-mediated antioxidant mechanisms, highlighting their potential as natural lifespan-extending agents.
Keywords: Amentoflavone, Caenorhabditis elegans, DAF-16/FOXO pathway, Lifespan, Selaginella tamariscina, Transcriptome
Received: 03 Jul 2025; Accepted: 29 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Jian Yan, Wu, Quan, Liu, Huang, Shao, Wang, Zhou, Liu, Liu, Wang, Li, Shi, Shu and Gou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhaohua Shi, zhshi78@hbucm.edu.cn
Peng Shu, shupeng@hbn.cn
Junbo Gou, junbogou@163.com
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