Caenorhabditis elegans as an experimental tool for the study of complex neurological diseases: Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and autism spectrum disorder
Caenorhabditis elegans as an experimental tool for the study of complex neurological diseases: Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and autism spectrum disorder
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has a very well-defined and genetically tractable nervous system which offers an effective model to explore basic mechanistic pathways that might be underpin complex human neurological diseases. Here, the role C. elegans is playing in understanding two neurodegenerative conditions, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and a complex neurological condition, autism, is used as an exemplar of the utility of this model system. C. elegans is an imperfect model of Parkinson's disease because it lacks orthologues of the human disease-related genes PARK1 and LRRK2 which are linked to the autosomal dominant form of this disease. Despite this fact, the nematode is a good model because it allows transgenic expression of these human genes and the study of the impact on dopaminergic neurons in several genetic backgrounds and environmental conditions. For AD, C. elegans has orthologues of the amyloid precursor protein and both human presenilins, PS1 and PS2. In addition, many of the neurotoxic properties linked with A? amyloid and tau peptides can be studied in the nematode. Autism spectrum disorder is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by impairments in human social interaction, difficulties in communication, and restrictive and repetitive behaviours. Establishing C. elegans as a model for this complex behavioural disorder is difficult; however, abnormalities in neuronal synaptic communication are implicated in the aetiology of the disorder. Numerous studies have associated autism with mutations in several genes involved in excitatory and inhibitory synapses in the mammalian brain, including neuroligin, neurexin and shank, for which there are C. elegans orthologues. Thus, several molecular pathways and behavioural phenotypes in C. elegans have been related to autism. In general, the nematode offers a series of advantages that combined with knowledge from other animal models and human research, provides a powerful complementary experimental approach for understanding the molecular mechanisms and underlying aetiology of complex neurological diseases.
caenorhabditis elegans, parkinson’s disease, alzheimer’s disease, autism spectrum disorder
73-83
Calahorro, Fernando
dddfa373-d3cc-433f-8851-9ca37f2f3950
Ruiz-Rubio, Manuel
bb788f2e-5703-4b36-bd3e-1aa546997e61
December 2011
Calahorro, Fernando
dddfa373-d3cc-433f-8851-9ca37f2f3950
Ruiz-Rubio, Manuel
bb788f2e-5703-4b36-bd3e-1aa546997e61
Calahorro, Fernando and Ruiz-Rubio, Manuel
(2011)
Caenorhabditis elegans as an experimental tool for the study of complex neurological diseases: Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and autism spectrum disorder.
Invertebrate Neuroscience, 11 (2), .
(doi:10.1007/s10158-011-0126-1).
(PMID:22068627)
Abstract
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has a very well-defined and genetically tractable nervous system which offers an effective model to explore basic mechanistic pathways that might be underpin complex human neurological diseases. Here, the role C. elegans is playing in understanding two neurodegenerative conditions, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and a complex neurological condition, autism, is used as an exemplar of the utility of this model system. C. elegans is an imperfect model of Parkinson's disease because it lacks orthologues of the human disease-related genes PARK1 and LRRK2 which are linked to the autosomal dominant form of this disease. Despite this fact, the nematode is a good model because it allows transgenic expression of these human genes and the study of the impact on dopaminergic neurons in several genetic backgrounds and environmental conditions. For AD, C. elegans has orthologues of the amyloid precursor protein and both human presenilins, PS1 and PS2. In addition, many of the neurotoxic properties linked with A? amyloid and tau peptides can be studied in the nematode. Autism spectrum disorder is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by impairments in human social interaction, difficulties in communication, and restrictive and repetitive behaviours. Establishing C. elegans as a model for this complex behavioural disorder is difficult; however, abnormalities in neuronal synaptic communication are implicated in the aetiology of the disorder. Numerous studies have associated autism with mutations in several genes involved in excitatory and inhibitory synapses in the mammalian brain, including neuroligin, neurexin and shank, for which there are C. elegans orthologues. Thus, several molecular pathways and behavioural phenotypes in C. elegans have been related to autism. In general, the nematode offers a series of advantages that combined with knowledge from other animal models and human research, provides a powerful complementary experimental approach for understanding the molecular mechanisms and underlying aetiology of complex neurological diseases.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 8 November 2011
Published date: December 2011
Keywords:
caenorhabditis elegans, parkinson’s disease, alzheimer’s disease, autism spectrum disorder
Organisations:
Biomedicine
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Local EPrints ID: 366696
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/366696
ISSN: 1354-2516
PURE UUID: f7b99929-425f-4d51-9d59-8dc5c14275bb
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Date deposited: 09 Jul 2014 14:08
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:46
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Author:
Manuel Ruiz-Rubio
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