Name: a caenorhabditis elegans model system for amylopathy study
Uploaded: 2013-05-17T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A Caenorhabditis elegans Model System for Amylopathy Study at JoVE.com

We thank Dr. Shuang Liu for critical reading of the manuscript. The PCL12 construct was a gift form Dr. Christopher D. Link. This work was supported by two National Science Foundation grants (0842708 and 1026958) and an AHA grant (09GRNT2250529) to FS.

1. Construction of Transgenic Worms
<ol>
	<li>Transformation.
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare injection pads. Place a drop of hot, 2% agarose dissolved in water, onto a glass coverslip. Quickly place a second coverslip on the drop and lightly tap it. After the agarose is solidified, slide coverslips apart, and bake the coverslip-pad in a vacuum oven at 80 &deg;C O/N.</li>
		<li>Pull pipettes. We use a Sutter P-97 puller to pull 1/0.5 mm O.D./I.D. borosilicate capillaries with filament. Pipettes are forged with closed tip which is ...

<ol>
	<li>Hardy, J., Allsop, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Amyloid+deposition+as+the+central+event+in+the+aetiology+of+Alzheimer's+disease.">Amyloid deposition as the central event in the aetiology of Alzheimer's disease.</a> Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. 12 (10), 383-388 (1991).</li><li>Kotzbauer, P. T., Trojanowsk, J. Q., Lee, V. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Lewy+body+pathology+in+Alzheimer's+disease.">Lewy body pathology in Alzheimer's disease.</a> Journal of Molecular Neuroscience. 17 (2), 225-232 (2001).</li><li>Greenberg, S. A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Inclusion+body+myositis:+review+of+recent+literature.">Inclusion body myositis: review of recent literature.</a> Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports. 9 (1), 83-89 (2009).</li><li>Revesz, T., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Sporadic+and+familial+cerebral+amyloid+angiopathies.">Sporadic and familial cerebral amyloid angiopathies.</a> Brain Pathology. 12 (3), 343-357 (2002).</li><li>Hartmann, T., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Distinct+sites+of+intracellular+production+for+Alzheimer's+disease+A+beta40/42+amyloid+peptides.">Distinct sites of intracellular production for Alzheimer's disease A beta40/42 amyloid peptides.</a> Nature Medicine. 3 (9), 1016-1020 (1997).</li><li>Ohnishi, S., Takano, K. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Amyloid+fibrils+from+the+viewpoint+of+protein+folding.">Amyloid fibrils from the viewpoint of protein folding.</a> Cellular and Molecular Life sciences: CMLS. 61 (5), 511-524 (2004).</li><li>DL, R. i. d. d. l. e., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=C.+elegans+II.">C. elegans II.</a> Cold Spring Harbor Monograph. 1, 1222 (1997).</li><li>Cotella, D., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Toxic+role+of+k++channel+oxidation+in+Mammalian+brain.">Toxic role of k+ channel oxidation in Mammalian brain.</a> The Journal of Neuroscience: the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 32 (12), 4133-4144 (2012).</li><li>Link, C. 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Here we describe a combined approach, to study cellular and molecular aspects of amylopathies using C. elegans. The advantages of this approach include: 1) low cost. C.elegans is maintained in normal Petri dish seeded with bacteria, at room temperature. 2) Powerful genetics. Transgenic animals can be obtained in few months and a wide array of promoter sequences is available to drive expression of the desired gene in specific neurons. 3) Simple, well-characterized, nervous system. C. elegans pos...

Amyloid beta (A&beta;) is a peptide of 36-43 amino acids that is formed after sequential cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by &beta; and &gamma; secretases 1. The &gamma; secretase processes the C-terminal end of the A&beta; peptide and is responsible for its variable lengths 5. The most common forms of A&beta; are A&beta;40 and A&beta;42, the latter being more commonly associated to pathologic conditions such as AD 5. At high concentrations A&beta; form &beta;-sheets that aggregate to form amyloid fibrils 6. Fibrils deposits are the main component of senile plaques surrounding neurons. Both plaques and diffusible, non-plaque A&beta; oligomers, are thought to constitute the underlying pathogenic forms of A&beta;.
Laboratory study of neuronal amylopathies is complicated by the fact that these conditions progress with time. Therefore, it is important to develop genetically tractable animal models-complementary to mice-with short life span. These models can be used to elucidate specific aspects of amylopathies-typically cellular and molecular-and by virtue of their simplicity, help to capture the essence of the problem. The worm Caenorhabditis elegans falls is this category. It has a short life span, ~20 days and in addition basic cellular processes including regulation of gene expression, protein trafficking, neuronal connectivity, synaptogenesis, cell signaling, and death are similar to mammalian 7. Unique features of the worm include powerful genetics and lack of a vessel system, which enables to study neuronal damage independently of vascular damage. On the other hand, the lack of a brain limits the use of C. elegans to studying many aspects of neurodegeneration. In addition, the reproduction and identification of anatomical distributions of lesions cannot be performed in this organism. Other limitations include the difficulty to assess both differences in gene expression profiles and impairment of complex behavior and memory function. Here we describe methods to generate C. elegans models of amylopathies.

<table border="1">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Name of Reagent</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>1. NGM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium Chloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S5886</td>
			<td>3 g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bacteriological agar</td>
			<td>AMRESCO</td>
			<td>J637</td>
			<td>17 g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bacto-peptone</td>
			<td>AMRESCO</td>
			<td>J636</td>
			<td>2.5 g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Distilled Water</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>Bring to 975 ml</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>Sterilized by autoclaving, then add the following items and mix well</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Magnesium sulfate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>M2643</td>
			<td>1 ml of 1 M stock</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Calcium Chloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C5670</td>
			<td>1 ml of 1 M stock</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cholesterol</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C3045</td>
			<td>1 ml of 5 mg/ml stock( in ethanol)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium phosphate buffer</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>25 ml of 1M stock</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>2. Potassium phosphate buffer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium phosphate monobasic</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P5655</td>
			<td>108.3 g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium phosphate dibasic</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P3786</td>
			<td>35.6 g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Distilled Water</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>Bring to 1 L</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>Sterilized by autoclaving</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>3. M9 buffer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium phosphate monobasic</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P5655</td>
			<td>3 g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium phosphate dibasic</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S5136</td>
			<td>6 g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium Chloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S5886</td>
			<td>5 g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Magnesium sulfate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>M2643</td>
			<td>1 ml of 1 M stock</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Distilled Water</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>Bring to 1 L</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>Sterilized by autoclaving</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>4. Egg buffer (pH 7.3, 340 mOsm)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium Chloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S5886</td>
			<td>118 mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium Chloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P5405</td>
			<td>48 mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Calcium Chloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C5670</td>
			<td>2 mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Magnesium Chloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>M4880</td>
			<td>2 mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HEPES</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>BP310</td>
			<td>25 mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Distilled Water</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>Bring to 1 L</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>Sterilized by autoclaving</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>5. CM-15</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-15 culture medium</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>11415</td>
			<td>450 ml</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fetal Bovine Serum</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>10437-028</td>
			<td>50 ml</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Penicillin</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>15140</td>
			<td>50 units/ml</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Streptomycin</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>15140</td>
			<td>50 g/ml</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>Adjust to 340 mOsm with sucrose then sterile filter into autoclaved bottles and store at 4 &deg;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
			<td>6. Other Reagents</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Halocarbon 700 oil</td>
			<td>Halocarbon Products</td>
			<td>9002-83-9</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>5 &mu;m Acrodisc Syringe Filter</td>
			<td>PALL Co.</td>
			<td>4199</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Chitinase</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C6137-5UN</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Lectin (peanut)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>L0881-10MG</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium hydroxide</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>S320</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Lysine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>L5501</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Biotin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>B4639</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium hypochlorite solution</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>425044</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium azide</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>71289</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sucrose</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S0389</td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

a caenorhabditis elegans model system for amylopathy study

Amylopathy is a term that describes abnormal synthesis and accumulation of amyloid beta (A&beta;) in tissues with time. A&beta; is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is found in Lewy body dementia, inclusion body myositis and cerebral amyloid angiopathy 1-4. Amylopathies progressively develop with time. For this reason simple organisms with short lifespans may help to elucidate molecular aspects of these conditions. Here, we describe experimental protocols to study A&beta;-mediated neurodegeneration using the worm Caenorhabditis elegans. Thus, we construct transgenic worms by injecting DNA encoding human A&beta;42 into the syncytial gonads of adult hermaphrodites. Transformant lines are stabilized by a mutagenesis-induced integration. Nematodes are age synchronized by collecting and seeding their eggs. The function of neurons expressing A&beta;42 is tested in opportune behavioral assays (chemotaxis assays). Primary neuronal cultures obtained from embryos are used to complement behavioral data and to test the neuroprotective effects of anti-apoptotic compounds.

With our protocols we study the effects of human A&beta;42 oligomer on neuronal function 8. A fragment encoding human A&beta;42 and the artificial signal peptide coding sequence of Fire vector pPD50.52 was amplified from construct PCL12 9 using primers that introduced a Sma 1 restriction endonuclease site at the ends. The fragment was then inserted into a construct containing a 2,481-bp flp-6 promoter sequence in the pPD95.75 Fire vector between the unique Sma 1 site <...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A Caenorhabditis elegans Model System for Amylopathy Study at JoVE.com

A Caenorhabditis elegans Model System for Amylopathy Study

We describe methods to study aspects of amylopathies in the worm C. elegans. We show how to construct worms expressing human A&beta;42 in neurons and how to test their function in behavioral assays. We further show how to obtain primary neuronal cultures that can be used for pharmacological testing.

A Caenorhabditis elegans Model System for Amylopathy Study

Amylopathy is a term that describes abnormal synthesis and accumulation of amyloid beta (A&beta;) in tissues with time. A&beta; is a hallmark of ...

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A Caenorhabditis elegans Nutritional-status Based Copper Aversion Assay

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It has become increasingly clear that neural circuit activity in behaving animals differs substantially from that seen in anesthetized or immobilized ...

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