The use of Caenorhabditis elegans in Molecular Neuropharmacology

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the use of Caenorhabditis elegans for the studies of the mechanisms of action of neuropharmacological agents. Caenorhabditis elegans is a small, free-living soil nematode that is widely used as a genetic model system. The tools available for its genetic and biochemical analysis are reasons for its popularity. C. elegans has been employed to act as a model system with the aim of understanding the molecular pharmacology of ivermectin's action. Ivermectin kills C. elegans at clinically relevant concentrations, and causes paralysis of locomotion and of the pharynx that is similar to the effects that have been observed in parasitic nematodes treated with ivermectin. In addition, C. elegans is a good genetic model organism for identifying the biological targets of fluoxetine. As forward genetics allows mutations in many genes to be assessed for an effect on particular phenotypes or behaviors, C. elegans has provided some clues of the targets of ethanol that are important for the behavioral effects of the drug in humans. The powerful genetics, the simple body plan, the small yet diverse nervous system, and the well-characterized biology of the worm and its behaviors allow in-depth analysis of the drug responses. This provides the opportunity to study neuropharmacological problems in C. elegans that are difficult to analyze in other systems.