C. elegans Electroshock Behavior Modulation

Behavior modulation in model organism Caenorhabditis elegans through use of electroconvulsive shock induced seizure assay and antiepileptic drugs

Caenorhabditis elegans has grown as a model organism for unearthing the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which neurological disorders operate with a variety of physiological disorders. For this experiment, an electroconvulsive seizure assay was developed as a quantitative method to assess behavioral responses following electric shock. In electric shock normal locomotion is impaired in C. elegans and paralysis and muscle twitching is induced; however, normal sinusoidal movement is regained briefly after administration of the shock. The time it takes for recovery of the locomotor response is used in this assay as a sign of recovery from seizures and the effects of various drugs that alter neuronal excitability and transmission were tested with the cGMP (protein kinase G) pathway as a target of this experiment. Time to recovery after electric shock was tested in unc family mutants whose loss-of-function mutations affect the GABA biosynthetic enzyme GAD and its receptors. Given that epilepsy-linked mutations in human GABAA receptors are well documented, this model represents a clinically-relevant system for early-stage AED screening. The newly formed electroconvulsive seizure assay provided an effective alternative as an initial screening tool for human seizure therapeutics and serve to complement other approaches that alter cellular excitability in worms.

Hi, my name is Naven Parthasarathy and I am a senior at American Heritage School in Delray Beach, FL. Please feel free to email me any comments/questions you have about my research project at bd547721@ahschool.com