Journal: microPublication Biology

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Caltech Library

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ISSN

2578-9430

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2021 - 20233
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Publications 1 - 3 of 3
  • CRISPR-activated expression of collagen col-120 increases lifespan and heat tolerance
    Item type: Journal Article
    Goyala, Anita; Ewald, Collin (2023)
    microPublication Biology
    Transgenic overexpression of collagen col-120 increases the lifespan of C. elegans. However, whether post-developmental enhancement of collagen expression could also increase the lifespan is unknown. Recently, we described a method to induce the expression of a target gene using catalytically dead Cas9 (dCas9)-engineered C. elegans via ingestion of bacteria expressing a pair of promoter-specific single guide RNAs (sgRNA). Here, we cloned col-120 promoter-specific sgRNA oligo pair into L4440-Biobrick-sgRNA and fed these bacteria to dCas9::VP64 transgenic C. elegans. We observed a similar percentage of lifespan extension by post-developmentally dCas9-induced expression of col-120, as previously reported through transgenic overexpression of col-120. Consistent with this result is that induction of another previously shown longevity-promoting collagen, col-10, also increased lifespan. Furthermore, we found an enhanced resilience to heat stress and increased expression of hsp-16.2 upon dCas9-activated col-120 expression. Together, these results provide an orthogonal method to validate longevity by enhancing col-120 expression and point towards a potential role of collagen enhancement in thermotolerance.
  • Estimation of C. elegans cell- and tissue volumes
    Item type: Journal Article
    Froehlich, Jonathan J.; Rajewsky, Nikolaus; Ewald, Collin (2021)
    microPublication Biology
    Although C. elegans is one of the best-studied model organisms, an estimate of its cell sizes and tissues is missing. Here we used the Virtual Worm that is based on electron microscopy images to calculate a zeroth-order approximation of cell and tissue sizes of C. elegans. We conclude that the intestine is the largest tissue, followed by the hypodermis, gonads, body wall muscles, pharynx, and neurons. Thus, we provide an approximation of tissue volumes of young adult C. elegans.
  • Widespread gpa-4 promoter-driven expression during Caenorhabditis elegans development
    Item type: Journal Article
    Osuna-Luque, Jaime; Ewald, Collin; Meister, Peter (2021)
    microPublication Biology
    The gpa-4 promoter-driven expression is described as specific for ASIL and ASIR chemosensory neurons in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, yet this was mostly examined in adult animals. Here we used a recombination-mediated reporter to test the previously used gpa-4 promoter expression. This reporter highlights all cells in which the gpa-4 promoter has been active at one point or another during development. We show that the gpa-4 promoter is indeed active in ASI, yet to our surprise, thispromoter drives also expression in many other cell types, including the somatic gonad, the seam cells, a subset of tail and head neurons, and muscle cells, demonstrating a widespread activity of this transgenic gpa-4 promoter during embryonic and post-embryonic development.
Publications 1 - 3 of 3