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Aging (Albany NY),
2011]
A mild reduction in mitochondrial respiration extends the life span of many species, including C. elegans. We recently showed that hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is required for the acquisition of a long life span by mutants with reduced respiration in C. elegans. We suggested that increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced in the respiration mutants increase HIF-1 activity and lead to this longevity. In this research perspective, we discuss our findings and recent advances regarding the roles of ROS and HIF-1 in aging, focusing on the longevity caused by reduced respiration.
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Biotechnol J,
2013]
Studying the genetics of development with small model organisms such as the zebrafish (Danio Rerio), the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), and the soil-dwelling nematode (Caenorhabditis elegans), provide unique opportunities for understanding related processes and diseases in humans. These model organisms also have potential for use in drug discovery and toxicity-screening applications. There have been sweeping developments in microfabrication and microfluidic technologies for manipulating and imaging small objects, including small model organisms, which allow high-throughput quantitative biological studies. Here, we review recent progress in microfluidic tools able to manipulate small organisms and project future directions and applications of these techniques and technologies.
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BMB Rep,
2010]
Asymmetric cell division is a fundamental mechanism for the generation of body axes and cell diversity during early embryogenesis in many organisms. During intrinsically asymmetric divisions, an axis of polarity is established within the cell and the division plane is oriented to ensure the differential segregation of developmental determinants to the daughter cells. Studies in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans have contributed greatly to our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms underlying cell polarity and asymmetric division. However, much remains to be elucidated about the molecular machinery controlling the spatiotemporal distribution of key components. In this review we discuss recent findings that reveal intricate interactions between translational control and targeted proteolysis. These two mechanisms of regulation serve to carefully modulate protein levels and reinforce asymmetries, or to eliminate proteins from certain cells.
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Cell,
2001]
The microtubule organizing center, or centrosome, is an unusual organelle. Unlike most organelles, it is not bounded by a membrane, yet it is distinct from the surrounding cytoplasm. It is at the center of important processes in animal and fungal cells, yet many plant cells completely lack it. And perhaps most perplexingly, the centrosome duplicates precisely once per cell cycle, yet the molecular mechanism of duplication remains obscure.
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Curr Biol,
2004]
The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans can learn and remember the stimuli it encounters, the environment it is in, and its own physiological state. Analyses of mutations in C. elegans that affect different aspects of experience are beginning to address the nature of learning.
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Cell,
1996]
The process of aging influences our poetry, our art, our lifestyle, and our happiness, yet we know surprisingly little about it. Genetics has taught us a great deal about gene regulation, development, and the cell cycle. Can it teach us how we age?
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Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord,
2003]
The soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a relatively simple organism for the study of animal development and behavior. The worm is conceived as a single cell and undergoes a complex process of development through four larval stages (L1-L4) before it reaches adulthood and lays eggs. It takes approximately 3 days to develop through the larval stages. After reproduction it gradually ages, loses vigor, and dies, usually within 2 to 3 weeks.
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Angew Chem Int Ed Engl,
2011]
This Review discusses the potential usefulness of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism for chemists interested in studying living systems. C. elegans, a 1 mm long roundworm, is a popular model organism in almost all areas of modern biology. The worm has several features that make it attractive for biology: it is small (<1000 cells), transparent, and genetically tractable. Despite its simplicity, the worm exhibits complex phenotypes associated with multicellularity: the worm has differentiated cells and organs, it ages and has a well-defined lifespan, and it is capable of learning and remembering. This Review argues that the balance between simplicity and complexity in the worm will make it a useful tool in determining the relationship between molecular-scale phenomena and organism-level phenomena, such as aging, behavior, cognition, and disease. Following an introduction to worm biology, the Review provides examples of current research with C. elegans that is chemically relevant. It also describes tools-biological, chemical, and physical-that are available to researchers studying the worm.
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Curr Opin Genet Dev,
2001]
Although the underlying mechanisms of ageing are not understood, it is known that the longevity of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is modulated by an insulin/IGF-signalling pathway. The focus now is on how this pathway is regulated, how it controls nematode ageing, and how this relates to the ageing process in higher animals.
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Cell Cycle,
2009]
The oxidative damage theory of aging once seemed almost proven. Yet recently the buzzards have been assembling in the blue skies above it. New challenges to the theory from work using nematode worms seem set to bring them down to peck at its bones. But is the theory really dead, or does it just need to be modified?