Journal
PEDIATRIC RESEARCH
Volume 65, Issue 1, Pages 10-18Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1203/PDR.0b013e31819009b0
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
- The Hartwell Foundation
- The Twenty-five Club of Magee-Womens Hospital
- The National Institutes of Health [DK079806]
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES AND DIGESTIVE AND KIDNEY DISEASES [R01DK079806] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
Ask authors/readers for more resources
As an experimental system, Caenorhabditis elegans offers a unique opportunity to interrogate in vivo the genetic and molecular functions of human disease-related genes. For example. C. elegans has provided crucial insights into fundamental biologic processes, such as cell death and cell fate determinations, as well as pathologic processes Such as neurodegeneration and microbial susceptibility. The C. elegans model has several distinct advantages, including a completely sequenced genome that shares extensive homology with that of mammals, ease Of Cultivation and storage, a relatively short lifespan and techniques for generating null and transgenic animals. However, the ability to conduct unbiased forward and reverse genetic screens in C. elegans remains one of the most powerful experimental paradigms for discovering the biochemical pathways underlying human disease phenotypes. The identification of these pathways leads to a better understanding of the molecular interactions that perturb cellular physiology, and forms the foundation for designing mechanism-based therapies. To this end, the ability to process large numbers of isogenic animals through automated work stations suggests that C. elegans. manifesting different aspects of human disease phenotypes, will become the platform of choice for in vivo drug discovery and target validation using high-throughput/content screening technologies. (Pediatr Res 65: 10-18, 2009)
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available