Function of C. elegans APL-1 in Molting

线虫 APL-1 在蜕皮中的功能

• 批准号: 0820748
• 负责人: Christine Li
• 金额: $ 41.76万
• 依托单位: CUNY City College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0820748&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Function; C.; elegans; APL; Molting

Many animals, particularly insects and worms, progress through distinct larval stages before arising as an adult. In worms, such as the non-parasitic roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, the end of each larval stage is punctuated by a molt, whereby the animal synthesizes a new cuticle (or skin) and sheds its old one. This project will investigate the complex sequence of events that gives rise to molting. The PI has identified a gene, apl-1, that is essential for molting in C. elegans. When apl-1 does not function, the animal is unable to complete its molt and becomes trapped within its old cuticle, causing the death of the animal. By putting in a normal copy of the gene in the nervous system of the animal, they can rescue the molting defect. Based on these data, Dr. Li hypothesizes that APL-1 acts as a neural signal in the molting process. She proposes to examine how APL-1 exerts its effects by following its movement in the animal and identifying other genes that interact with apl-1. These results will provide a general framework from which we can understand not only how C. elegans molts, but also how other worms, such as parasitic worms that damage crops or infect humans, molt. The experiments will be performed by graduate, undergraduate, and high school students. Participating students will learn how to plan, perform, and interpret experiments, will present their data at local and/or national scientific meetings, and will hone their scientific writing skills. The undergraduates that will participate in the project are predominantly minority and/or economically disadvantaged non-residential students', the goal of the project is to create a vibrant research community within the laboratory for their learning.

许多动物，特别是昆虫和蠕虫，在成长为成虫之前，会经历不同的幼虫阶段。在蠕虫中，如非寄生的线虫线虫，每个幼虫阶段的末尾都有一次蜕皮，借此动物合成一个新的角质层(或皮肤)并脱落它的旧角质层。这个项目将研究引起蜕皮的复杂事件序列。PI已经确定了一个基因APL-1，它对线虫的蜕皮是必不可少的。当APL-1不起作用时，动物无法完成蜕皮，并被困在旧角质层中，导致动物死亡。通过在动物的神经系统中植入正常的基因副本，它们可以修复蜕皮缺陷。基于这些数据，李博士假设APL-1在蜕皮过程中起到了神经信号的作用。她建议通过跟踪APL-1在动物体内的运动并识别与APL-1相互作用的其他基因来研究APL-1是如何发挥作用的。这些结果将提供一个一般的框架，从中我们不仅可以了解线虫如何蜕皮，而且还可以了解其他蠕虫，如破坏作物或感染人类的寄生蠕虫如何蜕皮。这些实验将由研究生、本科生和高中生进行。参与的学生将学习如何计划、执行和解释实验，将在地方和/或国家科学会议上展示他们的数据，并将磨练他们的科学写作技能。将参与该项目的本科生主要是少数族裔和/或经济困难的非寄宿学生，该项目的目标是在实验室内为他们的学习创造一个充满活力的研究社区。