Project overview
Pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries have an increasing need for cost effective experimental platforms for compound screening. We have invented a device to screen compounds for effects on the nervous system using the microscopic nematode worm C. elegans. We liken it to a worm 'EEG'. It exploits the cost effectiveness of using an invertebrate model whilst providing an exquisite level of detail and resolution on drug action. The device is a microfluidic chamber, 'NeuroChip'. It traps the worm, records the activity of a neural circuit in its head and applies compounds through a system of microvalves. This has particular relevance for the Crop Protection and Animal Health industries as the nervous system is a proven target for the majority of compounds that are currently deployed as nematicides and antiparasitics. Moreover, it provides the potential to deliver a neurotoxicological and biological activity profile for compounds that are of interest to the pharmaceutical industry.
Staff
Lead researchers
Other researchers
Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups
Research outputs
Fernando Calahorro, Francesca Keefe, James Dillon, Lindy Holden-dye & Vincent O'connor,
2019, The Journal of Experimental Biology, 222((Pt 3)), 1-11
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.189423
Type: article
Mark Lucanic, Theo Garrett, Ivan Yu, Fernando Calahorro Nunez, Azar Asadi Shahmirzadi, Aaron Miller, Matthew S. Gill, Robert E. Hughes, Linda Holden-Dye & Gordon J. Lithgow,
2016, Aging Cell, 15(5), 832-841
DOI: 10.1111/acel.12492
Type: article