Caenorhabditis elegans: A Useful Model for Studying Metabolic Disorders in Which Oxidative Stress Is a Contributing Factor

• Published in: Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity Vol. 2014; no. 2014; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Carmona-Aparicio, Liliana, Pedraza-Chaverri, José, Coballase-Urrutia, Elvia, Cárdenas-Rodríguez, Noemí, Moreno-Arriola, Elizabeth, Ortega-Cuellar, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 01-01-2014; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Analysis; Animals; Caenorhabditis elegans; Caenorhabditis elegans - metabolism; Disease Models, Animal; Health aspects; Humans; Metabolic diseases; Metabolic Diseases - pathology; Oxidative Stress; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Review; Second Messenger Systems
• ISSN: 1942-0900; 1942-0994
• DOI: 10.1155/2014/705253

Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful model organism that is invaluable for experimental research because it can be used to recapitulate most human diseases at either the metabolic or genomic level in vivo. This organism contains many key components related to metabolic and oxidative stress networks that could conceivably allow us to increase and integrate information to understand the causes and mechanisms of complex diseases. Oxidative stress is an etiological factor that influences numerous human diseases, including diabetes. C. elegans displays remarkably similar molecular bases and cellular pathways to those of mammals. Defects in the insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling pathway or increased ROS levels induce the conserved phase II detoxification response via the SKN-1 pathway to fight against oxidative stress. However, it is noteworthy that, aside from the detrimental effects of ROS, they have been proposed as second messengers that trigger the mitohormetic response to attenuate the adverse effects of oxidative stress. Herein, we briefly describe the importance of C. elegans as an experimental model system for studying metabolic disorders related to oxidative stress and the molecular mechanisms that underlie their pathophysiology.