Biologists' favorite worm gets viruses

Finding means C. elegans may aid studies of human infections

2011-01-26

(Press-News.org) A workhorse of modern biology is sick, and scientists couldn't be happier.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Jacques Monod Institute in France and Cambridge University have found that the nematode C. elegans, a millimeter-long worm used extensively for decades to study many aspects of biology, gets naturally occurring viral infections.

The discovery means C. elegans is likely to help scientists study the way viruses and their hosts interact.

"We can easily disable any of C. elegans' genes, confront the worm with a virus and watch to see if this makes the infection worse, better or has no effect," says David Wang, PhD. "If it changes the worm's response to infection, we will look to see if similar genes are present in humans and other mammals."

Wang notes that several fundamental aspects of human biology, including the ability of cells to self-destruct to prevent cancer, and RNA interference, an important process for regulating how genes are used to make proteins, were first identified in C. elegans and later affirmed to be present in humans.

The findings appear online in PLoS Biology.

Marie-Anne Felix, PhD, a researcher who studies nematodes at the Monod Institute, began the study by gathering C. elegans from rotting fruit in French orchards. Felix noted that some of her sample worms appeared to be sick. Treatment with antibiotics failed to cure them.

Felix then repeated a classic biology experiment that led to the discovery of viruses.

"She ground up the sick worms, passed them through a filter fine enough to remove any bacterial or parasitic infectious agents, and exposed a new batch of worms to the ground-up remains of the first batch," Wang says. "When the new batch got sick, she knew that a viral infection was likely to be present."

Wang, associate professor of pathology and immunology and of molecular microbiology, specializes in the identification of novel viruses. He found the worms had been suffering infections from two viruses related to nodaviruses, a class of viruses previously found to infect insects and fish. Nodaviruses are not currently known to infect humans. Tests showed one of the new viruses can infect the strain of C. elegans most commonly used in research.

"Model organisms are essential to important steps forward in biology, and we're eager to see what C. elegans can teach us about the way hosts and viruses interact," Wang says.

INFORMATION:

Felix M-A, Ashe A, Piffaretti J, Wu G, Nuez I, Belicard T, Jiang Y, Zhao G, Franz CJ, Goldstein LD, Sanroman M, Miska EA, Wang D. Natural and experimental infection of Caenorhabditis nematodes by novel viruses related to nodaviruses. PLoS: Biology, January 25, 2011.

Funding from the French National Center for Scientific Research, the National Institutes of Health, the Midwest Regional Center for Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research, the Cancer Research UK Programme, the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund, and the Herchel-Smith Foundation supported this research.

Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Possible new approach to treating a life-threatening blood disorder

2011-01-26

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a life-threatening disease of the blood system. The condition is caused by the presence of ultralarge multimers of the protein von Willebrand factor, which promote the formation of blood clots (thrombi) in small blood vessels throughout the body. Current treatments are protracted and associated with complications. However, a team of researchers, led by José López, at the Puget Sound Blood Center, Seattle, has generated data in mice that suggest that the drug N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which is FDA approved as a treatment for chronic ...

JCI table of contents: Jan. 25, 2011

2011-01-26

EDITOR'S PICK: Possible new approach to treating a life-threatening blood disorder Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a life-threatening disease of the blood system. The condition is caused by the presence of ultralarge multimers of the protein von Willebrand factor, which promote the formation of blood clots (thrombi) in small blood vessels throughout the body. Current treatments are protracted and associated with complications. However, a team of researchers, led by José López, at the Puget Sound Blood Center, Seattle, has generated data in mice that suggest ...

After stroke, admission to designated stroke center hospitals associated with reduced risk of death

2011-01-26

Patients who had an ischemic stroke and were admitted to hospitals designated as primary stroke centers had a modestly lower risk of death at 30 days, compared to patients who were admitted to non-designated hospitals, according to a study in the January 26 issue of JAMA. Stroke is the leading cause of serious long-term disability and the third leading cause of death in the United States. Responding to the need for improvements in acute stroke care, the Brain Attack Coalition (BAC) published recommendations for the establishment of primary stroke centers in 2000, and ...

Occurrence of stroke after coronary artery bypass graft surgery appears to be decreasing

2011-01-26

An analysis of data on more than 45,000 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery at an academic medical center over the past 30 years finds that the occurrence of stroke after CABG has declined, despite an increase in risk profiles of patients, according to a study in the January 26 issue of JAMA. Stroke is a devastating and potentially preventable complication of CABG surgery. Because it increasingly is being reserved for elderly patients with extensive coronary disease and co-existing conditions, prevalence of stroke after CABG is likely to ...

Cholera vaccination beneficial, post-outbreak

2011-01-26

Cholera vaccination beneficial, post-outbreak Researchers newly report evidence that vaccination against cholera can be beneficial even after an outbreak has begun. Rita Reyburn, Dr. Lorenz von Seidlein, Dr. John Clemens and colleagues at the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in Seoul, Korea analyze the impact that vaccination could have had on recent outbreaks around the globe in "The case for reactive mass oral cholera vaccinations", and Drs. Dang Duc Anh and Anna Lena Lopez and colleagues at IVI and in Vietnam report on the impact of such "reactive" use of vaccine ...

Study: Get thee to a stroke center

2011-01-26

Hospitals with designated stroke centers are associated with up to 20 percent higher survival rate for patients with ischemic stroke and significantly greater use of acute stroke therapy. That is the conclusion of a study appearing today in the Journal of the American Medical Association which compares treatment and outcomes in stroke care between hospitals in New York State. "The basic premise of stroke centers and stroke care – that coordinated care delivered around a specific disease can likely improve outcomes – is widely accepted," said University of Rochester ...

Report examines life expectancy in US and other high-income nations

2011-01-26

Over the last 25 years, life expectancy in the U.S. has been rising at a slower rate than in many other high-income countries, such as Japan and Australia, despite our spending more on health care than any other nation. EXPLAINING DIVERGENT LEVELS OF LONGEVITY IN HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES, a new report from the National Research Council, identifies factors that contribute to the U.S. shortfall in life expectancy. ###Reporters who wish to obtain copies should contact the Office of News and Public Information at 202-334-2138 or e-mail news@nas.edu. Advance copies will be available ...

Protection of pregnant women against malaria still inadequate

2011-01-26

A study published today in The Lancet Infectious Diseases finds that methods to protect pregnant women from malaria are still underutilised in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A review of national control strategies by a team of international researchers, led by the Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium and funded by the Consortium and the Wellcome Trust, has concluded that despite major efforts, coverage is still inadequate in many areas and needs to be scaled up. Malaria infection in pregnancy can lead to devastating consequences for both mother and child. The World Health Organization's ...

Fluorescent color of coral larvae predicts whether they'll settle or swim

2011-01-26

AUSTIN, Texas—Young staghorn coral that fluoresce redder are less likely to settle and develop into coral polyps than their greener peers, University of Texas at Austin biologists have discovered. The finding may help scientists monitor how corals adapt to global warming because the less likely coral larvae are to settle, the more likely they will disperse from their reef of origin. "By simply looking at the color of a larval population, we may soon be able to say which larvae are going to be long-range dispersers and which will be short-range dispersers," says Mikhail ...

Star performer in basic biology labs diagnosed with first virus

2011-01-26

A workhorse of modern biology is sick, and scientists couldn't be happier. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Jacques Monod Institute in France and Cambridge University have found that the nematode C. elegans, a millimeter-long worm used extensively for decades to study many aspects of biology, can be targeted by naturally occurring viral infections. The discovery means C. elegans is likely to help scientists study the way viruses and their hosts interact. The findings will be published next week in the online, open access journal ...

World's first practical surface-emitting laser for optical fiber communications developed: advancing miniaturization, energy efficiency, and cost reduction of light sources

Biologists' favorite worm gets viruses

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: