Nematode Worms (Caenorhabditis Elegans): Difference between revisions

== Use as a Model Organism ==

In 1963, Sydney Brenner proposed using ''C. elegans'' as a [[Model Organisms|model organism]] for the investigation primarily of neural development in animals. It is one of the simplest organisms with a nervous system. The neurons do not fire action potentials, and do not express any voltage-gated sodium channels.{{pmid|11084387}} In the hermaphrodite, this system comprises 302 neurons{{pmid|17572666}} the pattern of which has been comprehensively mapped,{{pmid|31270481}} in what is known as a connectome,<ref name="Brouillette">{{cite journal |last1=Brouillette |first1=Monique |title=Mapping the brain to understand the mind |journal=Knowable Magazine {{!}} Annual Reviews |date=21 April 2022 |doi=10.1146/knowable-042122-1|doi-access=free |url=https://knowablemagazine.org/article/mind/2022/mapping-brain-understand-mind |language=en}}</ref> and shown to be a small-world network.{{pmid|9623998}}

Telomeres, the length of which have been shown to correlate with increased lifespan and delayed onset of [[Senecent Cells|senescence]] in a multitude of organisms, from ''C. elegans''{{pmid|30559463}}{{pmid|16151516}} to humans,{{pmid|32876842}} show an interesting behaviour in ''C. elegans.'' While ''C. elegans'' maintains its telomeres in a canonical way similar to other eukaryotes, in contrast ''[[Drosophila Melanogaster|Drosophila melanogaster]]'' is noteworthy in its use of retrotransposons to maintain its telomeres,{{pmid|21821789}} during knock-out of the catalytic subunit of the telomerase (''trt-1'') ''C. elegans'' can gain the ability of alternative telomere lengthening (ALT). ''C. elegans'' was the first eukaryote to gain ALT functionality after knock-out of the canonical telomerase pathway.{{pmid|16477310}} ALT is also observed in about 10-15% of all clinical cancers.{{pmid|20351727}} Thus ''C. elegans'' is a prime candidate for ALT research.{{pmid|27593554}}{{pmid|23390606}}{{pmid|27761361}} Bayat et al. showed the paradoxical shortening of telomeres during ''trt-1'' over-expression which lead to near sterility while the worms even exhibited a slight increase in lifespan, despite shortened telomeres.{{pmid|31954861}}

==See Also==