← Browse entries

nhr-23

C. elegans

Nuclear hormone receptor family member nhr-23

What the model saw

Gene: nhr-23
Organism: Caenorhabditis elegans
Known functions: Nuclear hormone receptor family member nhr-23. DNA-binding transcription factor activity. RNA polymerase II cis-regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding. RNA polymerase II transcription regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding. nuclear receptor activity. sequence-specific DNA binding. zinc ion binding.
View unredacted entry
Nuclear hormone receptor family member nhr-23. DNA-binding transcription factor activity. RNA polymerase II cis-regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding. RNA polymerase II transcription regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding. nuclear receptor activity. sequence-specific DNA binding. zinc ion binding.

Solver output

Predicted influence
Pro-longevity
Confidence
62%
Mechanism
Epigenetic alterations
Reasoning

nhr-23 is the C. elegans ortholog of mammalian ROR (RAR-related orphan receptor) nuclear hormone receptors, which act as ligand-regulated transcription factors binding RNA Pol II cis-regulatory elements via zinc finger DNA-binding domains. Nuclear hormone receptors in C. elegans are key regulators of developmental timing, molting, and metabolic homeostasis; nhr-23 in particular controls molting cycles and epithelial integrity through transcriptional programs analogous to ROR-mediated gene regulation. ROR/NHR-23 activity modulates lipid metabolism and stress-response gene expression, pathways tightly linked to lifespan regulation in C. elegans. Reduced nhr-23 function disrupts molting and developmental progression, but its role as a transcriptional activator of homeostatic programs suggests its normal activity supports organismal fitness and longevity. The zinc ion binding and sequence-specific DNA binding activities place it as a direct transcriptional regulator of downstream longevity-relevant targets, most closely mapping to epigenetic/transcriptional reprogramming hallmarks of aging.

Key pathways
nuclear hormone receptor transcriptionmolting and developmental timinglipid metabolism and metabolic homeostasis
Longevity influence
Anti-longevity
Lifespan effect
Increase

GenAge curators classify each gene's normal function as promoting (Pro-Longevity) or opposing (Anti-Longevity) longevity, based on synthesis across studies. Loss-of-function effects can vary from this depending on the manipulation.

Advisor judgment

Answer
Incorrect
Mechanism
Incorrect
Reasoning quality
2/5
Failure mode
Confident wrong
Notes

The model predicted pro_longevity but the ground truth is anti_longevity. The model's reasoning acknowledges that nhr-23 controls molting and that reduced function disrupts development, but then incorrectly concludes that its normal activity supports longevity. In reality, nhr-23 is anti-longevity, meaning its reduction or loss extends lifespan. The model's mechanistic reasoning is also questionable - it classifies the mechanism as "epigenetic_alterations" when nhr-23 is primarily a transcription factor involved in developmental timing/molting, not epigenetic reprogramming per se. The model had moderate confidence (0.62) but still got the direction wrong. The reasoning shows some awareness of nhr-23's role in molting but fails to connect this to the known finding that reducing nhr-23 activity extends lifespan in C. elegans.

Raw API responses

solver

{
  "reasoning": "nhr-23 is the C. elegans ortholog of mammalian ROR (RAR-related orphan receptor) nuclear hormone receptors, which act as ligand-regulated transcription factors binding RNA Pol II cis-regulatory elements via zinc finger DNA-binding domains. Nuclear hormone receptors in C. elegans are key regulators of developmental timing, molting, and metabolic homeostasis; nhr-23 in particular controls molting cycles and epithelial integrity through transcriptional programs analogous to ROR-mediated gene regulation. ROR/NHR-23 activity modulates lipid metabolism and stress-response gene expression, pathways tightly linked to lifespan regulation in C. elegans. Reduced nhr-23 function disrupts molting and developmental progression, but its role as a transcriptional activator of homeostatic programs suggests its normal activity supports organismal fitness and longevity. The zinc ion binding and sequence-specific DNA binding activities place it as a direct transcriptional regulator of downstream longevity-relevant targets, most closely mapping to epigenetic/transcriptional reprogramming hallmarks of aging.",
  "confidence": 0.62,
  "key_pathways": [
    "nuclear hormone receptor transcription",
    "molting and developmental timing",
    "lipid metabolism and metabolic homeostasis"
  ],
  "mechanism_class": "epigenetic_alterations",
  "longevity_influence": "pro_longevity"
}

advisor

{
  "notes": "The model predicted pro_longevity but the ground truth is anti_longevity. The model's reasoning acknowledges that nhr-23 controls molting and that reduced function disrupts development, but then incorrectly concludes that its normal activity supports longevity. In reality, nhr-23 is anti-longevity, meaning its reduction or loss extends lifespan. The model's mechanistic reasoning is also questionable - it classifies the mechanism as \"epigenetic_alterations\" when nhr-23 is primarily a transcription factor involved in developmental timing/molting, not epigenetic reprogramming per se. The model had moderate confidence (0.62) but still got the direction wrong. The reasoning shows some awareness of nhr-23's role in molting but fails to connect this to the known finding that reducing nhr-23 activity extends lifespan in C. elegans.",
  "failure_mode": "confident_wrong",
  "answer_correct": false,
  "mechanism_correct": false,
  "reasoning_quality": 2,
  "ground_truth_questionable": false
}