Todd, Robert et al. (2015) International Worm Meeting "C. elegans PERK ortholog, pek-1, is responsible for the rapid phosphorylating eIF2alpha upon heat shock."

Prahlad, Veena, Todd, Robert

[International Worm Meeting, 2015]

Exposure of organisms to heat, as well as other stressors, triggers the integrated stress response (ISR). This well conserved cellular response results in the transient attenuation of translation through phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor two alpha (eIF2alpha), and is thought to protect the organism from the increased burden of nascent polypeptide misfolding. Using C. elegans to investigate translational control under heat stress, we have found that surprisingly, the ER associated kinase PEK-1 is responsible for eIF2alpha phosphorylation and not the other C. elegans eIF2alpha kinase ortholog GCN-2. Exposing animals to increased temperatures for as short of a time period as 10 minutes results in a transient attenuation of total newly synthesized proteins, as measured using the SUNSet assay, coinciding with the transient and reversible phosphorylation of eIF2alpha. Deletion of the pek-1 gene, but not gcn-2, prevents the rapid phosphorylation of eIF2alpha seen in wild type animals upon heat shock. We are currently in the process of understanding how PEK-1-dependent translational attenuation is coupled to HSF-1 dependent hsp70 induction that both occur upon heat shock.

Kreeger KY (1996) The Scientist "Hot papers: Programmed cell death."

Kreeger KY

[The Scientist, 1996]

Biologist H. Robert Horvitz discusses the genetics of cell death in the nematode C. elegans.

Thomas JH et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "lin-36, a Class B Synthetic Multivulva Gene, Encodes a Novel Protein"

Thomas JH, Horvitz HR

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

lin-36, a Class B Synthetic Multivulva Gene, Encodes a Novel Protein Jeffrey H. Thomas and H. Robert Horvitz, HHMI, Dept. Biology, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Goff SP (1999) Cancer Research "Genetic control of programmed cell death in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans - Introduction."

Goff SP

[Cancer Research, 1999]

It is an honor and a great pleasure to introduce Dr. Robert Horvitz to you as the 1998 recipient of the Alfred Sloan Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation. Let me begin by telling you a little bit about Bob's

Chen X et al. (2015) Mol Neurodegener "Erratum to: Ethosuximide ameliorates neurodegenerative disease phenotypes by modulating DAF-16/FOXO target gene expression."

McCue HV, Chen X, Morgan A, Kashyap SS, Barclay JW, Kraemer BC, Burgoyne RD, Wong SQ

[Mol Neurodegener, 2015]

The original version of this article [1] unfortunately contained a mistake. The author list contained a spelling error for the author Hannah V. McCue. The original article has been corrected for this error. The corrected author list is given below:Xi Chen, Hannah V. McCue, Shi Quan Wong, Sudhanva S. Kashyap, Brian C. Kraemer, Jeff W. Barclay, Robert D. Burgoyne and Alan Morgan

Casey DL (1999) Human Genome News "International team delivers C. elegans sequence."

Casey DL

[Human Genome News, 1999]

For the first time, scientists have the nearly complete genetic instructions for an animal that, like humans, has a nervous system, digests food, and reproduces sexually. The 97-million-base genome of the tiny roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans was deciphered by an international team led by Robert Waterston and John Sulston. The work was reported in a special issue of the journal Science (December 11, 1998) that featured six articles describing the history and significance of the accomplishment and some early sequence-analysis results.

Brownlee DJA et al. (1996) Parasitol Today "Nematode neuropeptides: Localization, isolation and functions."

Holden-Dye L, Brownlee DJA, Walker RJ, Fairweather I

[Parasitol Today, 1996]

Historically, peptidergic substances (in the form of neurosecretions) were linked to moulting in nematodes. More recently, there has been a renewal of interest in nematode neurobiology, initially triggered by studies demonstrating the localization of peptide immunoreactivities to the nervous system. Here, David Brownlee, Ian Fairweather, Lindy Holden-Dye and Robert Walker will review progress on the isolation of nematode neuropeptides and efforts to unravel their physiological actions and inactivation mechanisms. Future avenues for research are suggested and the potential exploitation of peptidergic pathways in future therapeutic strategies

Marx JL (1984) Science "New clues to developmental timing."

Marx JL

[Science, 1984]

Within the past few years researchers have finally begun to be able to peer inside a hitherto impenetrable black box, namely, the development of complex organisms. The genes that control the commitment of embryonic cells to specific fates are now being found and characterized. A case in point is reported in this issue of Science (p. 409). Victor Ambros of Harvard University and H. Robert Horvitz of Massachusetts Institute of Technology have identified genes that affect the timing of developmental events in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans.

Barbour V (2002) Lancet "Celebrating death--the 2002 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine."

Barbour V

[Lancet, 2002]

The overwhelming complexity of higher organisms can make it hard to know where to begin to understand them. The three scientists who share this year's Nobel prize for physiology or medicine, Sydney Brenner (Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA), John Sulston (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK), and Robert Horvitz (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, USA), all chose to study a far simpler organisms - the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. Although multicellular, this organism reproduces rapidly and is transparent, so that each developmental stage can be seen clearly without the need for dissection.

Eddy SR "The Caenorhabditis elegans genome project."

Eddy SR

In the next five years, molecular biology will get its first look at the complete genetic code of a multicellular animal. The Caenorhabditis elegans genome sequencing project, a collaboration between Robert Waterston's group in St. Louis and John Sulston's group in Cambridge, is currently on schedule towards its goal of obtaining the complete sequence of this organism and all its estimated 15,000 to 20,000 genes by 1998. By that time, we should also know the complete genome sequence of a few other organisms as well, including the prokaryote Escherichia coli and the single-celled eukaryote Saccharomyces