Presenter: Kelley Williams
Faculty Mentor: Stephen Banse, Patrick Phillips
Presentation Type: Poster 89
Primary Research Area: Science
Major: Biochemistry
Although C. elegans is a popular model for lifespan research, study of genetic and pharmacological interventions that specifically alter healthspan, the length of time an animal stays healthy, is less thorough. We therefore propose to study nematode healthspan using the decline in rhythmic activity of the feeding organ (pharynx) as a selection metric for experimental evolution. To facilitate this project, we are developing three assay platforms based on three microfluidic chips. The first two assay platforms are lower throughput, higher resolution measures of pharyngeal health, while the third is a higher-throughput assay designed for experimental evolution. The first microfluidic device, the “electropharyngeogram chip”, allows us to quantify age-related declines in pharyngeal electrical activity. This approach shows the expected changes in pump frequency and prolonged health of known longevity mutants, as well as shows novel changes in pump patterning. The second device, the “feeding chip”, is designed to provide tight temporal control of food exposure while imaging feeding animals. It also will enable measurements of grinder (chewing) and peristalsis (swallowing) efficiency. The third device, the higher-throughput “sorter chip”, was designed for separating males from females, but now allows automated and programmable selection of high performing individuals from ~2000 animals per hour as measured by ingestion rates. We will present the developmental work for all three devices and for the methods with which we use them, as well as the intellectual framework in which we are using these devices to evolve a worm that stays healthier, longer.