Project description:Young adult N2 Caenorhabditis elegans were infected with Enterococcus faecalis or Enterococcus faecium for 8 h to determine the transcriptional host response to each enterococcal species. Analysis of differential gene expression in C. elegans young adults exposed to four different bacteria: heat-killed Escherichia coli strain OP50 (control), wild-type E. faecalis MMH594, wild-type E. faecium E007, or Bacillus subtilis PY79 (sigF::kan). Samples were analyzed at 8 hours after exposure to the different bacteria. These studies identified C. elegans genes induced by pathogen infection. Brain-heart infusion agar plates (10 ug/ml kanamycin) were used.
Project description:Young adult fer-15;fem-1 Caenorhabditis elegans were infected with Staphylococcus aureus for 8 h to determine the transcriptional host response to Staphylococcus aureus. Analysis of differential gene expression in C. elegans young adults exposed to two different bacteria: E. coli strain OP50 (control), wild-type Staphylococcus aureus RN6390. Samples were analyzed at 8 hours after exposure to the different bacteria. These studies identified C. elegans genes induced by pathogen infection. Keywords: response to pathogen infection, innate immunity, host-pathogen interactions
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of whole day 1 adult C. elegans, comparing animals carrying the m79 mutation in the daf-10 gene and wild-type isogenic animals. Genes that act downstream of sensory neurons to influence longevity, dauer formation and pathogen responses in Caenorhabditis elegans Manuscript abstract:
Project description:Dysfunction of the motor subunit of the TIM23 translocase, the PAM complex located on the matrix side of the mitochondrial inner membrane in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was shown to cause a decrease in mitochondrial protein import and precursor accumulation in the cytosol. We used an analogous model to study the non-mitochondrial response to defective mitochondrial import machinery in Caenorhabditis elegans in which we depleted DNJ-21 as the functional homolog of yeast Pam18. To gain a broader insight in potential changes in Caenorhabditis elegans proteome upon DNJ-21 depletion we performed a quantitative, label-free proteomics analysis. We compared protein levels upon knockdown of dnj-21 (dnj-21 RNAi) with control conditions (Empty vector RNAi). Synchronized N2 wild type worms were grown on NGM plates seeded with E. coli HT115(DE3) transformed with a construct targeting dnj-21 gene or with empty vector L4440 as a control.
Project description:RET/GDNF and ET3/EDNRB regulate cell survival, differentiation and migration of neural crest-derived cells. Many signalling mediators of RET have been characterized but the target genes at the end of the signalling cascade are largely unknown. Since the RET/EDNRB crosstalk has been previously shown, we used a Caenorhabditis elegans knockout strain of Nep-1, a homologue of human ECE1 (endothelin-converting enzyme-1), to identify new target genes. Transcriptome comparison between wild-type and Nep-1 strains at different stages identified vit-3 as a differentially expressed gene. Molecular studies of the vit3 mammalian homologue, Apoliporotein B (APOB), were performed in the murine Neuro2a cell line, a model of ENS development. Apob expression in Neuro2a is specifically activated by the RET/GDNF signalling pathway, since Ret silencing abolished Apob increase, and this effect is induced by MAPK P38 kinase activation. Mouse Apob promoter study revealed that there is a p53-dependent repressor element in the promoter region which blocks Apob expression and we show that actually p53 binds to this region. We demonstrated that RET/GDNF and EDNRB/endothelin 3 (ET-3) cooperate in inducing neuronal differentiation resulting in Apob activation. We also show that Apob expression is downregulated in mouse embryos homozygous for the mutation RetC620R and presenting a severe HSCR phenotype, whereas heterozygous mice, phenotypically normal, present a significant increase in Apob expression. These data suggest that Apob has an important role in RET-mediated neuronal development and APOB decrease may have an impact in human disorders where RET absence has been already identified, such as HSCR and Parkinson disease. Gene expression analysis using Affymetrix GeneChip C. elegans arrays in order to identify genes up- or down-regulated in nep-1 strains, homologue of human ECE1 (endothelin-converting enzyme 1).