A rapid chemical-genetic screen utilizing impaired movement phenotypes in C. elegans: Input into genetics of neurodevelopmental disorders.

In this study, we present a screening approach of potential C. elegans mutants as potential ASD models. We screened these mutants for motor-deficiency phenotypes, which can be exploited to study underlying mechanisms of the disorder. Selected motor-deficient mutants were then used in a comprehensive drug screen of over 3900 compounds, including many FDA-approved and natural molecules, that were analyzed for their ability to suppress motility defects caused by ASD-associated gene orthologues. This genetic-chemical approach, i.e. establishing C. elegans models for ASD and screening of a well-characterized compound library, might be a promising first step to understand the mechanisms of how gene variations cause neuronal dysfunction, leading to ASD and other neurological disorders. Positively acting compounds could also be promising candidates for preclinical studies. PMID: 28373024 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Experimental Neurology - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Exp Neurol Source Type: research