sex, stress, and oxygen deprivation: gender-specific phenotypes modulate survival in anoxia
DESCRIPTION
Sex, Stress, and Oxygen Deprivation: Gender-Specific Phenotypes Modulate Survival in Anoxia . Michelle LeBlanc University of North Texas Ronald E. McNair Program. Oxygen Deprivation. What is Anoxia?TRANSCRIPT
Sex, Stress, and Oxygen Deprivation: Gender-Specific Phenotypes Modulate
Survival in Anoxia Michelle LeBlanc
University of North TexasRonald E. McNair Program
Oxygen Deprivation
• What is Anoxia?– <.001 kilopascal of oxygen in environment– Health Issues
• Stroke• Ischemia• Center of cancerous tumors
– Environmental Deficits• Oceanic dead zones
Suspended Animation
• Reversible state of dormancy – initiated due to environmental stress
• Mammals– Hibernation– Estivation
• We can study SA with the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans!!
Caenorhabditis elegans
Image adapted from Wormbook
Image Adapted from Wormbook
Hypothesis
• An modification in gonad function will modulate survival of long-term oxygen deprivation.– Sterile animals may survive anoxia differently
than wild-type animals.– Sex may modulate survival in anoxia.
Experimental Schematic
RNAi of sterile-reported genes
Gender in Anoxia
Male Genotype vs Phenotype
Females in anoxia
Oocyte flux and survival
Future Aims
• What underlies the fog-2(q71) phenotype?– Sperm signaling– Signaling from fertilized embryo
• Does oocyte flux affect survival?– spe-12(hc76) and fer-15(hc15)
• Animals that cannot produce spermatids
Acknowledgements
Ronald E. McNair Program
Dr. Pamela PadillaAlexander Mendenhall and Desh
Mohan, project collaboratorsThe rest of the Padilla lab
References• BOUTILIER, R. G., and J. ST-PIERRE, 2000 Surviving hypoxia without
really dying. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 126: 481-490.• BURGGREN, W., and A. MWALUKOMA, 1983 Respiration during chronic
hypoxia and hyperoxia in larval and adult bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana). I. Morphological responses of lungs, skin and gills. J Exp Biol 105: 191-203.
• GEMS, D., and D. L. RIDDLE, 2000 Genetic, behavioral and environmental determinants of male longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 154: 1597-1610.
• HAJERI, V. A., J. TREJO and P. A. PADILLA, 2005 Characterization of sub-nuclear changes in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos exposed to brief, intermediate and long-term anoxia to analyze anoxia-induced cell cycle arrest. BMC Cell Biol 6:47.
• KORNFELD, K., D. B. HOM and H. R. HORVITZ, 1995 The ksr-1 gene encodes a novel protein kinase involved in Ras-mediated signaling in C. elegans. Cell 83: 903-913.
• NYSTUL, T. G., J. P. GOLDMARK, P. A. PADILLA and M. B. ROTH, 2003 Suspended animation in C. elegans requires the spindle checkpoint. Science 302: 1038-1041.