Caenorhabditis elegans: A Model for Studying Human Pathogen Biology

Abstract

Novel clinical strategies need to be evolved, as pathogens, especially the ones that infect the human, develop resistance. To do so, host pathogen biology needs to be clearly understood and this can be done using a nematode worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, which harbours the same virulent microbes. Over several decades, the worm has been used to study host-microbe interaction with reference to immune response of the worm, antimicrobial molecules secreted, cell death in the worm body, quorum sensing network of the bacteria and fast or slow worm death. This mini review gives a bird's eye view of the directions that have been taken in these areas to date. Currently, the worm has been proposed to be an ideal model for high throughput screening of natural and synthetic drugs against a variety of bacteria. Experimental systems that allow this screening have been patented. Caenorhabditis elegans, thus, is one of the very effective models for studying pathogens that infect human.

Healthspan pathway maps in C. elegans and humans highlight transcription, proliferation/biosynthesis and lipids

“…However, the strict separation of the immune response into an innate and an adaptive system was questioned by Kvell et al [ 100 ] and more recently by Penkov et al [ 101 ], not least because of the discovery of the trained innate immune response [ 102 ]. Furthermore, the suitability of C. elegans as a model for the mammalian immune system and for pathogen response was summarized in several reviews [ 99 , 103 , 104 ]. Indeed, based on the expression of antifungal or antibacterial polypeptides in response to pathogenic stress, this nematode is used to find new antimicrobial drugs [ 105 , 106 ].…”

Resistance to Antibiotics: Are we prepared to Handle This Growing Ghost?

“…Among all these simpler life forms, the nematode C. elegans has been of great significance in various fields of biological research for almost four decades. Though its use in biology labs has remained a widely used practice, its use for efficacy testing of novel antimicrobials has been realized only in the recent past [139]. C. elegans, a self-fertilizing hermaphrodite, is attractive as a model organism for a variety of reasons.…”

Pseudomonas donghuensis HYS gtrA/B/II Gene Cluster Contributes to Its Pathogenicity toward Caenorhabditis elegans

“…C. elegans is used as a model organism for the analysis of pathogenic bacteria [ 16 ], as its small body size, simple body structure, short lifespan and completely sequenced genome [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], and this worm can interact with many known human pathogens and has a functional innate immune response [ 21 ]. C. elegans provides us with a model for studying virulence factors, pathogenetic mechanisms and host-pathogen interactions [ 22 , 23 ].…”