Identification and Characterization of Helix Loop Helix Transcription Factors in Caenorhabditis Elegans

Morgan State University, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

Johnson The normal development of vertebrate organisms requires the careful orchestration of events at the molecular level. As a result, factors that regulate gene expression play critical roles in biological processes such as cellular specification, morphogenesis, and growth. These factors, known as transcriptional regulators, have been grouped together into families based on their similarities in structure and function, and several members of the helix-loop-helix (HLH) family are known to be required for mammalian development. HLH factors have been shown to affect brain, eye, and neuronal development, normal pancreatic functioning, macrophage differentiation, and skeletal muscle development. This project lays the foundation for further investigation into the exact role of HLH factors in developmental regulation. By using the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, as a model system, this project will involve (1) the identification of all of the HLH factors in C. elegans through database searches of the C. elegans genome, (2) the determination of the biological function of a small subset of predicted HLH factors through dsRNA interference assays in wild type animals and in animals carrying reporter constructs, and (3) the determination of the expression pattern of those factors through in situ hybridization studies. The completion of the planning stage of the project will provide preliminary data needed to develop a detailed, mechanistic and molecular characterization of HLH factors that regulate a specific developmental process. This work will ultimately lead to a biochemical and genetical analysis of the interactions between tissue-specific transcription factors during cellular specification.