Elucidation and functional characterization of the key components that make up the cholecystokinin/gastrin signaling system in nematodes.

A pandemic of metabolic diseases (atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, and obesity), unleashed by multiple social and economic factors beyond the control of most individuals, threatens to diminish human lifespan for the first time in the modern era. Given the redundancy and inherent complexity of processes regulating the uptake, transport, catabolism, and synthesis of nutrients, magic bullets to target these diseases will be hard to find. Recent studies using the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, indicate that this tiny nematode possesses unique attributes that could help in identifying, investigating, and even validating new pharmaceutical targets for these diseases. In this project the nematode cholecystokinin/gastrin signaling system that has been discovered during my PhD research, is studied in more detail to identify its role in nematode energy homeostasis and functionally characterize the key components which constitute this system.

Keywords:Neuro biology

Disciplines:Endocrinology and metabolic diseases, Animal biology, General biology