-
[
Research Resources Reporter (DHHS),
1986]
A comprehensive collection of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, including strains useful in research and in teaching genetics, is maintained at the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.
-
[
Curr Biol,
2009]
For ectotherms, lifespan is increased at low temperature and decreased at high temperature. A new study in Caenorhabditis elegans shows that thermosensory neurons can counteract the effects of high temperature on lifespan by controlling the activity of a steroid signaling pathway.
-
[
Curr Opin Neurobiol,
2003]
Work in flies, nematodes and vertebrates has shown that genes involved in axon patterning at the ventral midline are functionally conserved across phylogeny. Recent studies in Caenorhabditis elegans have implicated several new extracellular molecules, such as nidogen and heparan sulfate proteoglycans, in axonal tract formation at the midline. Furthermore, a conceptually new mechanism that regulates the maintenance of axon positioning at the midline has been described in C. elegans.
-
[
Curr Biol,
2003]
Recent studies highlight the striking similarity between vertebrate focal adhesion plaques and Caenorhabditis elegans muscle adhesion structures and position LIM domain proteins as central players at focal adhesions.
-
[
Curr Opin Neurobiol,
2009]
A family of small molecules called ascarosides act as pheromones to control multiple behaviors in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. At picomolar concentrations, a synergistic mixture of at least three ascarosides produced by hermaphrodites causes male-specific attraction. At higher concentrations, the same ascarosides, perhaps in a different mixture, induce the developmentally arrested stage known as dauer. The production of ascarosides is strongly dependent on environmental conditions, although relatively little is known about the major variables and mechanisms of their regulation. Thus, male mating and dauer formation are linked through a common set of small molecules whose expression is sensitive to a given microenvironment, suggesting a model by which ascarosides regulate the overall life cycle of C. elegans.
-
[
Gen Physiol Biophys,
2013]
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), long viewed as a toxic gas and environmental hazard, is emerging as a biological mediator with remarkable physiological and pathophysiological relevance. H2S is now viewed as the third main gasotransmitter in the mammalian body. Its pharmacological characteristic possesses similarities to the other two gasotransmitters - nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO). Many of the biological effects of H2S follow a bell-shaped concentration-response; at low concentration or at lower release rates it has beneficial and cytoprotective effects, while at higher concentrations or fast release rates toxicity becomes apparent. Cellular bioenergetics is a prime example for this bell-shaped dose-response, where H2S, at lower concentrations/rates serves as an inorganic substrate and electron donor for mitochondrial ATP generation, while at high concentration it inhibits mitochondrial respiration by blocking the Complex IV in the mitochondrial electron transport chain. The current review is aimed to focus on the following aspects of H2S biology: 1) a general overview of the general pharmacological characteristics of H2S, 2) a summary of the key H2S-mediated signal transduction pathways, 3) an overview of role of H2S in regulation of cellular bioenergetics, 4) key aspects of H2S physiology in C. elegans (a model system) and, finally 5) the therapeutic potential of H2S donating molecules in various disease states.
-
[
Dev Growth Differ,
2012]
Netrin is an evolutionarily conserved, secretory axon guidance molecule. Netrin's receptors, UNC-5 and UNC-40/DCC, are single trans-membrane proteins with immunoglobulin domains at their extra-cellular regions. Netrin is thought to provide its positional information by establishing a concentration gradient. UNC-5 and UNC-40 act at growth cones, which are specialized axonal tip structures that are generally located at a long distance from the neural cell body. Thus, the proper localization of both Netrin and its receptors is critical for their function. This review addresses the localization mechanisms of UNC-6/Netrin and its receptors in Caenorhabditis elegans, focusing on our recent reports. These findings include novel insights on cytoplasmic proteins that function upstream of the receptors.
-
[
Nature,
2004]
During cell division everything must happen at the right time, or errors occur. A common cellular control device, protein phosphorylation, is now shown to time the assembly of a key part of the division machinery.
-
[
Neuron,
2001]
Weighing in at about 5 ug, with 302 neurons and 5000 synapses, C. elegans is unlikely to prove theorems, write poetry, or challenge Mike Tyson. Still, remarkable behavioral complexity is packed into this tiny worm.
-
[
Curr Biol,
1999]
In many cells, centrosomes are required to position nuclei at specific locations in the cytoplasm. The nature of the link between centrosomes and nuclei is mysterious, but the recently characterised UNC84 protein appears to be involved.