Neurodegenerative diseases and the C. elegans model

Neurodegenerative diseases are chronic and debilitating conditions linked with age, with few therapeutic interventions. The incidence of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and related diseases are set to double every 20 years as the population ages globally¹.

C. elegans provides effective models of neurodegenerative disease through overexpression of human proteins implicated in their pathophysiology. These loss of function models age in weeks,  with characteristic neurodegenerative phenotypes that can be scored rapidly and used to test diverse interventions with our WormGazer^TM technology.

Our strong phenotype model and advantage

We provide you with a strong phenotypic model system for neurodegenerative diseases, including muscular changes that result in variable paralysis and neurological changes that affect mobility and cognitve behaviours.

This is combined with the ability to continuously track and quantify these complex changes, in real time, using our automated WormGazer^TM technology.

Contact us for more information and data examples from our in-house C. elegans models of Huntington’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease. See our Transgenics page to discover how we can make a custom model designed for your specific needs.

Natural age-related neurodegeneration and the C. elegans model

Ageing is a major risk factor for neurodegeneration and associated diseases. As such, we also offer assays for neuronal functional decline using naturally ageing, wild type populations. These models are free from the overexpression of proteins or pathway induction.

Neurotransmission in C. elegans uses several identical receptors and signalling pathways to mammals, allowing its successful use to model neuronal function². These include acetylcholine (ACh), g-aminobutyric acid (GABA), dopamine, serotonin and glutamate. Excitatory neurotransmission at the neuromuscular junction is elicited through ACh and inhibited by GABA.

Our advantage for neurodegeneration studies:

• Continuous monitoring for key signs of neurodegeneration — decline in mobility (preceding paralysis) 
• Test your compound or product in a naturally ageing organism
• Consultancy from leading experts for study design input
• Automated WormGazer^TM technology with high throughput and data reproducibility
• Multi-faceted healthspan approach, to monitor disease-relevant changes, including neuronal function throughout the ageing process
• Reliable data compared to artificial degeneration induced in rodents of young age
• Acute and chronic testing for therapeutic compound effects on health and longevity
• Key insights into targets and modes of action using genetic and molecular tools
• Large populations with consistent and time efficient experiments with predictive power for mammals

Age-related mobility decline in C.elegans Alzheimer’s amyloid beta 1- 42 model vs control strain

In this video, we demonstrate the use of our unique WormGazer^TM technology to measure mobility decline in a C. elegans strain modified to express the human amyloid peptide (Aβ 1-42) as a model for Alzheimer’s disease vs a wild-type control model

Download our poster: Developing a System to Quantify Efficacy of Neurodegeneration Therapeutics Using Automated Monitoring of C. elegans

Get in touch today to find out how we can 
support you to accelerate your research

SERVICES

Contract lab services for 
your research area

Our customised C. elegans studies help industry leaders generate high-quality, 
reproducible data to answer their research questions in these areas.

Microbiome

A powerful whole
organism model for
microbiome research

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Neurodegeneration

A proven whole organism model for neurodegenerative disease
research

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Toxicity

A powerful whole organism model for detecting toxicity for the environment and human health

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Ageing

A powerful whole
organism model for accelerating ageing research

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Transgenics

We can generate C. elegans strains tailored to the exact needs of your project.

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