C. elegans is an ideal model for studying the cellular mechanisms of neurological diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) due to well-characterized synaptic interconnections and the fact that specific neurons can be visualized in vivo with fluorescent markers. CD BioSciences leverages the C. elegans-based high-throughput screening platform to help you screen drugs for ALS and find a cure for this devastating disease. C. elegans-based high-throughput screening platform to help you perform ALS drug screening and validate the ability of hits to reverse or ameliorate the disease phenotype in human motor neurons.

Study of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in C. elegans

As a progressive neurodegenerative disease, ALS is characterized by the loss of upper motor neurons (UMN) and lower motor neurons (LMN). Of these, UMN death causes hyperexcitability and spasticity, while LMN degeneration leads to weakness, fasciculations, and muscle atrophy. Subsequently, the patient develops extensive muscle atrophy, paralysis that is incurable, and ultimately death. At present, there are approximately 20 genes associated with ALS, including SOD1, TARDBP, FUS and C9orf72, mutations associated with the most common causes of typical ALS. In vivo and in vitro models, such as C. elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, zebrafish, rodents, and nonhuman primates, have helped to elucidate the etiology and pathogenesis of ALS, as well as its molecular, cellular, and physiological mechanisms.

Fig.1 ALS disease pathology and proposed disease mechanisms. (Van Damme P, et al., 2017)

As a model organism, C. elegans has emerged as a powerful tool for large-scale genetic and chemical screens due to a range of advantages. The nervous system of C. elegans consists of 302 neurons that utilize most of the known neurotransmitters in the mammalian nervous system. Especially, the characteristics include neurons with most of the known neurotransmitters in the mammalian nervous system, well-characterized synaptic interconnections, visualized neurons with fluorescently labeled in vivo making the nematode an excellent model to study ALS and other neurological diseases.

ALS genes and their C. elegans orthologs:

Our Services

C. elegans helps researchers understand ALS and ultimately find a cure for this devastating disease. CD BioSciences has well-equipped and experienced scientists to provide you with ALS drug screening services utilizing the C. elegans high-throughput drug screening platform. Our services will provide you with comprehensive data analysis and insightful interpretation to advance your research goals. The C. elegans models we offer for ALS drug screening include, but are not limited to:

Why Choose CD BioSciences?

With the advanced drug screening system and years of experienced technicians, CD BioSciences guarantees our clients the most reliable research services with comprehensive data analysis, faster turnaround time and most competitive prices. Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information. We are looking forward to cooperating with you!

Reference

1. Van Damme P, Robberecht W, Van Den Bosch L. Modelling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: progress and possibilities[J]. Disease models & mechanisms, 2017, 10(5): 537-549.

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