Tech Notes

The NemaMetrix ScreenChip system was developed for C. elegans, which is but one of the estimated 1 million members of the highly diverse phylum, Nematoda. To demonstrate the utility of microfluidic EPG recordings from species beyond C. elegans, we adapted the platform to record from several human and animal gastrointestinal parasites, male and female members of a dioecious nematode species, and a carnivorous nematode.

The heavy metal, copper (Cu²⁺), is toxic to humans and C. elegans. We used the ScreenChip system to detect Cu²⁺ in aqueous samples at concentrations (≤10 mg/L) within the range found in contaminated home water supplies. EPG recordings provide a powerful new tool for C. elegans toxicology research.

The NemaMetrix ScreenChip System is a microfluidics platform for recording electropharyngeograms (EPGs) from the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans and other nematode species. This technical note demonstrates the utility of the ScreenChip system in pharmacology, taking as an example compounds chemically related to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana (Cannabis sativa).

Humans have over 70 potassium channel genes, but only some of these have been linked to disease. In this respect, the KCNQ family of potassium channels is exceptional: mutations in four out of five KCNQ genes underlie diseases including cardiac arrhythmias, deafness, and epilepsy. In this technical note, we investigated the effect of mutations of orthologous KCNQ-like genes in the nematode C. elegans on electrical excitability using the NemaMetrix ScreenChip System.

Microfluidic EPG Recordings Show Striking Pharyngeal Pumping Phenotype in a C. elegans Alzheimer’s Disease Model – Preliminary Findings