Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Measuring Caenorhabditis elegans Life Span on Solid Media
12:49

Measuring Caenorhabditis elegans Life Span on Solid Media

Published on: May 12, 2009

Checkpoint proteins control survival of the postmitotic cells in Caenorhabditis elegans

Anders Olsen1, Maithili C Vantipalli, Gordon J Lithgow

  • 1Buck Institute, 8001 Redwood Boulevard, Novato, CA 94945, USA.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|June 3, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Cellular checkpoints are vital for development and stress resistance. Inactivating these checkpoint genes in C. elegans revealed their crucial role in adult cell survival and maintenance.

Area of Science:

  • Cellular biology
  • Developmental biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Cellular checkpoints are conserved mechanisms that regulate cell division and stress responses.
  • These checkpoints are critical for responding to DNA damage and replication stress.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of checkpoint proteins in whole animal physiology.
  • To understand the consequences of checkpoint loss on development and adult somatic maintenance.

Main Methods:

  • Inactivation of checkpoint genes in the nematode C. elegans.
  • Analysis of the effects on cellular and organismal levels.

Main Results:

  • Checkpoint proteins are essential for normal development in C. elegans.
  • Loss of checkpoint function impacts adult somatic maintenance.
  • Checkpoint proteins are crucial for the survival of postmitotic adult cells.

Conclusions:

  • Checkpoint proteins have roles beyond cell cycle regulation, extending to adult somatic maintenance.
  • The study highlights the importance of checkpoint integrity for long-term cell survival.

More Related Videos

Quantifying Tissue-Specific Proteostatic Decline in Caenorhabditis elegans09:18

Quantifying Tissue-Specific Proteostatic Decline in Caenorhabditis elegans

Published on: September 7, 2021

Surveying Low-Cost Methods to Measure Lifespan and Healthspan in Caenorhabditis elegans10:08

Surveying Low-Cost Methods to Measure Lifespan and Healthspan in Caenorhabditis elegans

Published on: May 18, 2022

Related Concept Videos

Positive Regulator Molecules01:45

Positive Regulator Molecules

To consistently produce healthy cells, the cell cycle—the process that generates daughter cells—must be precisely regulated.
Negative Regulator Molecules01:23

Negative Regulator Molecules

Positive regulators allow a cell to advance through cell cycle checkpoints. Negative regulators have an equally important role as they terminate a cell’s progression through the cell cycle—or pause it—until the cell meets specific criteria.
The Cell Cycle Control System02:11

The Cell Cycle Control System

The cell cycle is an organized set of events that leads the cell to divide into two daughter cells, each containing chromosomes identical to the parent cell. It is the cell cycle that leads to the formation of an entire organism from a single-cell zygote. Besides, cell division also functions in the renewal or repair of tissues in adult multicellular eukaryotes. For example, in the bone marrow, the stem cells divide to form new blood cells. Although essential for several functions, cell...
Positive Regulator Molecules02:39

Positive Regulator Molecules

Mitotic cell division results in daughter cells that exactly resemble the parent cell. However, errors in the DNA replication or distribution of genetic material may lead to genetic mutations that may be passed down to every new cell formed from the resulting abnormal cell. Propagation of such mutant cells is restricted through checkpoint mechanisms present at different stages of the cell cycle. These checkpoints involve regulator molecules that either promote or demote cell cycle events.
The Cell Cycle Control System01:28

The Cell Cycle Control System

The cell cycle regulation directs how a cell proceeds from one phase to the next and begins mitosis. The cell cycle control system includes intracellular regulatory molecules and external triggers. They provide "stop" or "advance" signals and operate at specific cell cycle stages termed checkpoints to ensure that a particular process is completed before the cell advances to the next phase.
Cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) are the primary cell cycle regulators and function at the cell...