Automated Acquisition of C. elegans Survival Curves with a Flatbed Scanner

描述(由申请人提供)：在生命系统中发生的活性化学物质和分子过程导致信息和物理损伤的积累，尽管修复机制。这种磨损会导致疾病和死亡的可能性随着时间的推移而增加，这被称为衰老。破坏性事件的随机性导致了个体的表型差异，即使它们在基因上是相同的，并且共享相同的环境。这种差异导致的寿命分布反映了基因的不同。因此，等位基因个体群体的完整生存曲线是就基因对衰老的影响进行分类的有力工具。该提案旨在开发一种自动化、廉价和强大的系统，以获得线虫高分辨率的生存曲线。该提案将通过采用商用平板扫描仪对大量蠕虫种群进行长期成像并开发适当的图像处理软件来实现这一目标。新方法的验证将通过与四个被广泛研究的寿命延长突变体的传统手动程序进行比较来进行。该方法对RNA干扰研究的适用性将通过类似的比较进行评估。这样的自动化系统将对衰老的研究产生广泛的影响，因为它揭示了对生存的微妙遗传和环境影响，促进了我们对主要衰老过程的理解。公共卫生相关性：基因相同的个体的生存曲线是研究衰老的有力工具。一个自动化、廉价和强大的系统用于获得大型蠕虫(线虫)种群的高分辨率生存曲线，通过揭示对生存的微妙遗传和环境影响，将对衰老的研究产生广泛的影响，从而促进我们对跨物种保存的主要衰老途径的理解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Reactive chemicals and molecular processes occurring in living systems lead to the accumulation of informational and physical damage despite repair mechanisms. This wear-and-tear results in a growing likelihood of disease and death with time, referred to as aging. The random nature of damaging events contributes to the phenotypic divergence of individuals, even when they are genetically identical and share the same environment. This divergence results in a distribution of life spans that is reflective of the genotype. The complete survival curve of a population of isogenic individuals is therefore a powerful tool for classifying genes with regard to their impact on aging. The proposal aims at developing an automated, inexpensive, and robust system for obtaining high-resolution survival curves of the nematode C. elegans. The proposal will achieve this objective by adapting commercial flatbed scanners for long-term imaging of large worm populations and developing appropriate image processing software. Validation of the new method will occur by comparison with traditional manual procedures on four widely studied lifespan- extension mutants. The method's suitability for RNA interference studies will be assessed using similar comparisons. Such an automated system will have broad impact on the study of aging by revealing subtle genetic and environmental effects on survival that advance our understanding of major aging processes. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The survival curve of genetically identical individuals is a powerful tool in the study of aging. An automated, inexpensive, and robust system for obtaining high-resolution survival curves of large worm (C. elegans) populations will have broad impact on the study of aging by revealing subtle genetic and environmental effects on survival that advance our understanding of major aging pathways conserved across species.