Transcriptional response of Caenorhabditis elegans when exposed to Shigella flexneri

Pamodha Somasiri, Carolyn A. Behm, Marcin Adamski, Jiayu Wen, Naresh K. Verma*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    7 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In recent years, researchers have begun to use Caenorhabditis elegans as a potential animal model to study Shigella pathogenesis. This study aims to further develop this model using RNA-sequencing to understand which pathways/cellular characteristics are affected and potentially cause death in Shigella-exposed worms. We identified 1631 differentially expressed genes in Shigella-exposed worms (6 h exposure). A number of these genes encode proteins involved in fatty-acid β-oxidation (FAO), antioxidant defense and autophagy. The down-regulation of acyl-CoA dehydrogenases would impede FAO, reducing the overall energy to combat Shigella in the worm's intestinal tract. This is potentially coupled with the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that may not be fully quenched by antioxidant defense proteins, leading to damaged cellular organelles in the worm's intestinal cells. These cells may undergo autophagy to remove the mounting damage, but may eventually undergo cell death.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)774-781
    Number of pages8
    JournalGenomics
    Volume112
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jan 2020

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Transcriptional response of Caenorhabditis elegans when exposed to Shigella flexneri'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this