E. Culetto et Db. Sattelle, A role for Caenorhabditis elegans in understanding the function and interactions of human disease genes, HUM MOL GEN, 9(6), 2000, pp. 869-877
A growing number of medical research teams have begun to explore the experi
mental advantages of using a genetic animal model, the nematode worm Caenor
habditis elegans, with a view to enhancing our understanding of genes under
lying human congenital disorders. In this study, we have compared sequences
of positionally cloned human disease genes with the C.elegans database of
predicted genes, Drawing on examples from spinal muscular atrophy, polycyst
ic kidney disease, muscular dystrophy and Alzheimer's disease, we illustrat
e how data from C.elegans can yield new insights into the function and inte
ractions of human disease genes.