Nuclear hormone receptor family member nhr-80 (NHR-80)

Nuclear hormone receptor family member nhr-80 (NHR-80) is a nuclear hormone receptor found in *Caenorhabditis elegans*. It functions as a transcription factor, playing a key role in the regulation of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism, specifically delta-9 fatty acid desaturases (such as *fat-5*, *fat-6*, and *fat-7*)[2][3][7]. NHR-80 is expressed primarily in intestinal cells, the major site of fat metabolism in *C. elegans*[2][3]. Its activity is crucial for maintaining appropriate levels of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids and is necessary for compensatory upregulation of desaturases when others are lost[2]. Unlike some other related nuclear hormone receptors (e.g., NHR-49), NHR-80 mutants do not display defects in essential functions such as viability or fertility, but exhibit altered fatty acid composition[2][3].\nNHR-80 is also required for lifespan extension following germline ablation, linking fatty acid desaturation—particularly production of oleic acid via stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD, *fat-6*)—to longevity in *C. elegans*[3][7]. This mechanism functions independently of DAF-16/FOXO but requires the nuclear hormone receptor daf-12[3][7].\nNHR-80 is not a therapeutic target in humans, nor are drugs known to act on it; its physiological and pharmacological relevance is primarily for basic research in metabolic and aging pathways in nematodes, not clinical applications[7][3][2].

Other names

NHR-80nuclear hormone receptor nhr-80HNF4-like nuclear receptor (in *C. elegans*)