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Learning the Biochemical Basis of Axonal Guidance: Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model

Aim: Experimental models are a powerful aid in visualizing molecular phenomena. This work reports how the worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) can be effectively explored for students to learn how molecular cues dramatically condition axonal guidance and define nervous system structure and behav...

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Autores principales: Teixeira-Castro, Andreia, Sousa, João Carlos, Vieira, Cármen, Pereira-Sousa, Joana, Vilasboas-Campos, Daniela, Marques, Fernanda, Pinto-do-Ó, Perpétua, Maciel, Patrícia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10296117/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37371826
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11061731
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author Teixeira-Castro, Andreia
Sousa, João Carlos
Vieira, Cármen
Pereira-Sousa, Joana
Vilasboas-Campos, Daniela
Marques, Fernanda
Pinto-do-Ó, Perpétua
Maciel, Patrícia
author_facet Teixeira-Castro, Andreia
Sousa, João Carlos
Vieira, Cármen
Pereira-Sousa, Joana
Vilasboas-Campos, Daniela
Marques, Fernanda
Pinto-do-Ó, Perpétua
Maciel, Patrícia
author_sort Teixeira-Castro, Andreia
collection PubMed
description Aim: Experimental models are a powerful aid in visualizing molecular phenomena. This work reports how the worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) can be effectively explored for students to learn how molecular cues dramatically condition axonal guidance and define nervous system structure and behavior at the organism level. Summary of work: A loosely oriented observational activity preceded detailed discussions on molecules implied in axonal migration. C. elegans mutants were used to introduce second-year medical students to the deleterious effects of gene malfunctioning in neuron response to extracellular biochemical cues and to establish links between molecular function, nervous system structure, and animal behavior. Students observed C. elegans cultures and associated animal behavior alterations with the lack of function of specific axon guidance molecules (the soluble cue netrin/UNC-6 or two receptors, DCC/UNC-40 and UNC-5H). Microscopical observations of these strains, in combination with pan-neuronal GFP expression, allowed optimal visualization of severely affected neurons. Once the list of mutated genes in each strain was displayed, students could also relate abnormal patterns in axon migration/ventral and dorsal nerve cord neuron formation in C. elegans with mutated molecular components homologous to those in humans. Summary of results: Students rated the importance and effectiveness of the activity very highly. Ninety-three percent found it helpful to grasp human axonal migration, and all students were surprised with the power of the model in helping to visualize the phenomenon.
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spelling pubmed-102961172023-06-28 Learning the Biochemical Basis of Axonal Guidance: Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model Teixeira-Castro, Andreia Sousa, João Carlos Vieira, Cármen Pereira-Sousa, Joana Vilasboas-Campos, Daniela Marques, Fernanda Pinto-do-Ó, Perpétua Maciel, Patrícia Biomedicines Article Aim: Experimental models are a powerful aid in visualizing molecular phenomena. This work reports how the worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) can be effectively explored for students to learn how molecular cues dramatically condition axonal guidance and define nervous system structure and behavior at the organism level. Summary of work: A loosely oriented observational activity preceded detailed discussions on molecules implied in axonal migration. C. elegans mutants were used to introduce second-year medical students to the deleterious effects of gene malfunctioning in neuron response to extracellular biochemical cues and to establish links between molecular function, nervous system structure, and animal behavior. Students observed C. elegans cultures and associated animal behavior alterations with the lack of function of specific axon guidance molecules (the soluble cue netrin/UNC-6 or two receptors, DCC/UNC-40 and UNC-5H). Microscopical observations of these strains, in combination with pan-neuronal GFP expression, allowed optimal visualization of severely affected neurons. Once the list of mutated genes in each strain was displayed, students could also relate abnormal patterns in axon migration/ventral and dorsal nerve cord neuron formation in C. elegans with mutated molecular components homologous to those in humans. Summary of results: Students rated the importance and effectiveness of the activity very highly. Ninety-three percent found it helpful to grasp human axonal migration, and all students were surprised with the power of the model in helping to visualize the phenomenon. MDPI 2023-06-16 /pmc/articles/PMC10296117/ /pubmed/37371826 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11061731 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Teixeira-Castro, Andreia
Sousa, João Carlos
Vieira, Cármen
Pereira-Sousa, Joana
Vilasboas-Campos, Daniela
Marques, Fernanda
Pinto-do-Ó, Perpétua
Maciel, Patrícia
Learning the Biochemical Basis of Axonal Guidance: Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model
title Learning the Biochemical Basis of Axonal Guidance: Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model
title_full Learning the Biochemical Basis of Axonal Guidance: Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model
title_fullStr Learning the Biochemical Basis of Axonal Guidance: Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model
title_full_unstemmed Learning the Biochemical Basis of Axonal Guidance: Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model
title_short Learning the Biochemical Basis of Axonal Guidance: Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model
title_sort learning the biochemical basis of axonal guidance: using caenorhabditis elegans as a model
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10296117/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37371826
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11061731
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