title: The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: a versatile model for the study of proteotoxicity and aging.
abstract: Toxicity arising from protein misfolding and aggregation (proteotoxicity) is tightly mechanistically linked to the emergence of late-onset neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Why these maladies manifest in late stages of life and what mechanisms protect the young organism from disease are key enigmas. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans offers key advantages that enable systematic exploration of many cell biological and functional aspects of neurodegeneration-linked proteotoxicity. Here we review the abundantly used nematode-based proteotoxicity models and delineate common techniques for the measurement of protein aggregation and rate of proteotoxicity. We also discuss the advantages offered by the worm for genetic screening, drug development and for the exploration of the links between proteotoxicity and the aging process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Yuli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Volovik
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91120, Israel; Center of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, Institute for Biomedical Research in Light and Image (IBILI), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Filipa Carvalhal
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. Electronic address: ehudc@ekmd.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Ehud
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics
keywords: Aging; Caenorhabditis elegans; Neurodegeneration; Proteotoxicity