Budovskaya et al. (Cell. 134, 291-303, 2008) have proposed that the ELT-3 GATA factor regulates somatic aging genes, including those expressed in the intestine, and participates in a transcription factor circuit that "guides Caenorhabditis elegans aging". We have re-investigated two key features of this proposal: (i) expression of
elt-3 in the C. elegans adult intestine where the majority of somatic aging genes are expressed, and; (ii) the ability of
elt-3 loss-of-function to revert the extended lifespan of
daf-2(
e1370) mutants. We find that: (i) in agreement with our previously published results, ELT-3 expression is largely hypodermal and is not expressed at significant levels in the adult C. elegans intestine, and; (ii) the
elt-3(
vp1) zinc-finger deletion mutant does not significantly influence the extended lifespan of
daf-2(
e1370) mutants. We thus suggest that the role of ELT-3 in C. elegans aging should be re-evaluated.