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egl-4

C. elegans

cGMP-dependent protein kinase;cGMP-dependent protein kinase egl-4

What the model saw

Gene: egl-4
Organism: Caenorhabditis elegans
Known functions: cGMP-dependent protein kinase;cGMP-dependent protein kinase egl-4. ATP binding. cGMP-dependent protein kinase activity. protein kinase activity. protein serine kinase activity. protein serine/threonine kinase activity.
View unredacted entry
cGMP-dependent protein kinase;cGMP-dependent protein kinase egl-4. ATP binding. cGMP-dependent protein kinase activity. protein kinase activity. protein serine kinase activity. protein serine/threonine kinase activity.

Solver output

Predicted influence
Pro-longevity
Confidence
82%
Mechanism
Deregulated nutrient sensing
Reasoning

EGL-4 is the C. elegans cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG), a serine/threonine kinase activated by cGMP signaling. In C. elegans, EGL-4 functions downstream of the cGMP signaling pathway in sensory neurons (particularly AWC olfactory neurons) to modulate chemosensory adaptation and dauer formation. Critically, EGL-4/PKG activity promotes entry into the dauer diapause state and has been shown to extend lifespan when activated in sensory neurons, partly by reducing food-sensing signals that feed into the insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway. By dampening sensory neuron activity, EGL-4 reduces the neuronal output that normally stimulates DAF-2/insulin receptor signaling, thereby de-repressing DAF-16/FOXO transcription factor activity and promoting longevity. Gain-of-function alleles of egl-4 extend lifespan, placing it as a pro-longevity effector within the nutrient/sensory-sensing axis that intersects with IIS.

Key pathways
cGMP/PKG signaling in sensory neuronsinsulin/IGF-1 signaling (DAF-2/DAF-16 axis)dauer formation and lifespan extension
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

The advisor flagged this ground-truth label as potentially questionable.
Answer
Incorrect
Mechanism
Incorrect
Reasoning quality
3/5
Failure mode
Confident wrong
Notes

The model predicted egl-4 as pro_longevity, but the ground truth is anti_longevity. The model's reasoning about EGL-4's role in cGMP signaling and sensory neuron modulation is partially correct in terms of biology, but it drew the wrong conclusion about the net longevity effect. The model correctly identified that egl-4 gain-of-function alleles can extend lifespan in certain contexts (sensory neuron-specific effects), but the overall classification in GenAge is anti_longevity, suggesting that egl-4 normally acts to limit lifespan (i.e., loss-of-function or reduction of egl-4 extends lifespan). The model was quite confident (0.82) in its wrong answer. The mechanistic reasoning about dampening sensory neuron activity and IIS pathway is plausible but ultimately led to the wrong directional conclusion about the gene's overall longevity influence.

Raw API responses

solver

{
  "reasoning": "EGL-4 is the C. elegans cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG), a serine/threonine kinase activated by cGMP signaling. In C. elegans, EGL-4 functions downstream of the cGMP signaling pathway in sensory neurons (particularly AWC olfactory neurons) to modulate chemosensory adaptation and dauer formation. Critically, EGL-4/PKG activity promotes entry into the dauer diapause state and has been shown to extend lifespan when activated in sensory neurons, partly by reducing food-sensing signals that feed into the insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway. By dampening sensory neuron activity, EGL-4 reduces the neuronal output that normally stimulates DAF-2/insulin receptor signaling, thereby de-repressing DAF-16/FOXO transcription factor activity and promoting longevity. Gain-of-function alleles of egl-4 extend lifespan, placing it as a pro-longevity effector within the nutrient/sensory-sensing axis that intersects with IIS.",
  "confidence": 0.82,
  "key_pathways": [
    "cGMP/PKG signaling in sensory neurons",
    "insulin/IGF-1 signaling (DAF-2/DAF-16 axis)",
    "dauer formation and lifespan extension"
  ],
  "mechanism_class": "deregulated_nutrient_sensing",
  "longevity_influence": "pro_longevity"
}

advisor

{
  "notes": "The model predicted egl-4 as pro_longevity, but the ground truth is anti_longevity. The model's reasoning about EGL-4's role in cGMP signaling and sensory neuron modulation is partially correct in terms of biology, but it drew the wrong conclusion about the net longevity effect. The model correctly identified that egl-4 gain-of-function alleles can extend lifespan in certain contexts (sensory neuron-specific effects), but the overall classification in GenAge is anti_longevity, suggesting that egl-4 normally acts to limit lifespan (i.e., loss-of-function or reduction of egl-4 extends lifespan). The model was quite confident (0.82) in its wrong answer. The mechanistic reasoning about dampening sensory neuron activity and IIS pathway is plausible but ultimately led to the wrong directional conclusion about the gene's overall longevity influence.",
  "failure_mode": "confident_wrong",
  "answer_correct": false,
  "mechanism_correct": false,
  "reasoning_quality": 3,
  "ground_truth_questionable": true
}