Center for Caenorhabditis Elegans Anatomy

描述(申请人提供)：线虫，秀丽线虫，已被鉴定为细胞发育的“高连通性”动物。这种非常小、简单的动物因其优异的遗传学和可获得的细胞生物学而被广泛用于实验研究。蠕虫的完整基因组已经公布，成虫的大部分解剖结构已经从连续薄片的电子显微镜照片中重建出来。然而，线虫群落并没有广泛使用EM技术，而且以前的大多数EM数据都不容易访问。线虫解剖中心专注于将EM方法扩展到线虫，特别是1)研究细胞在正常发育过程中和突变动物中的变化，2)进行EM免疫细胞化学和组织化学研究，在超微结构水平上定位抗原或分子。这类研究正在与美国国立卫生研究院和国家科学基金会资助的实验室密切合作，以实现其现有的实验目标。此外，该中心正在以带注释的电子显微镜和光学显微照片的形式发布关于线虫解剖的详细信息。信息可在我们的WormAtlas和Wormlmage网站、ftp、CD和DVD上获得，现在以书籍形式在《线虫地图集》中获得。必要时，该中心正在测试线虫的新EM方法，并对关键发育阶段的野生类型解剖进行新的EM调查，以补充地图集，并填补我们常识中的空白。该中心还提供透射电子显微镜方法的培训，以便更多的线虫实验室能够进行他们自己的EM研究。 该R24应用程序首次获得资助，该中心于1998年2月开业；我们请求五年的资助，以继续建设我们服务于科学界的能力。 线虫基因组中已知许多与疾病相关的基因序列；线虫基因突变的透射电子显微镜病理学通常有助于发现人类同等基因产物的功能。该实验室的研究揭示了与大脑发育有关的基本机制，并探索了与多种形式的细胞死亡有关的基因，包括凋亡、坏死和自噬。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, has been identified as a "high connectivity" animal for cellular development. This very small, simple animal has been widely adopted for experimental study due to its excellent genetics and accessible cell biology. The complete genome of the worm has been published, and most of the adult anatomy has been reconstructed from electron micrographs of serial thin sections. However, EM techniques are not widely utilized by the C. elegans community, and most previous EM data are not easily accessed. The Center for C. elegans Anatomy concentrates on extending the EM methods on C. elegans, particularly to 1) study cellular changes during normal development and in mutant animals, and 2) conduct EM-immunocytochemical and histochemical studies to localize antigens or molecules at the ultrastructural level. Such studies are being conducted in close collaboration with NIH- and NSF-funded laboratories, in fulfillment of their existing experimental aims. In addition, the Center is 3) publishing detailed information regarding the anatomy of the nematode in the form of annotated TEM and light micrographs. Information is available on the Internet on our WormAtlas and Wormlmage web sites, by ftp, on CDs and DVDs, and now in book form in the C. elegans Atlas. Where necessary, the Center is 4) testing new EM methods for C. elegans, and conducting new EM surveys of the wild type anatomy at key developmental stages to supplement the Atlas, and to fill gaps in our general knowledge. The Center also provides 5) training in TEM methods so that more C. elegans labs can conduct their own EM studies. This R24 application was first funded and the Center opened in Feb. 1998; we request five years of funding to continue building our capabilities to serve the scientific community. Many disease-related gene sequences are known in the C. elegans genome; the TEM pathology of genetic mutations in nematode is often helpful in discovering the function of equivalent gene products in man. Studies in this laboratory have uncovered basic mechanisms related to development of the brain, and explored genes involved in several forms of cell death, including apoptosis, necrosis and autophagy.