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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Measurements of Physiological Stress Responses in C. Elegans

Measurements of Physiological Stress Responses in C. Elegans

Published on: May 21, 2020

Hormesis and adaptive cellular control systems.

Qiang Zhang¹, Jingbo Pi, Courtney G Woods

¹Division of Computational Biology, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, 6 Davis Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.

Dose-Response : a Publication of International Hormesis Society

|July 24, 2008

Summary

Hormetic dose responses, often U-shaped, arise from cellular adaptive mechanisms protecting against environmental stressors. These adaptations, while beneficial, incur energetic costs, influencing cellular functions and risk assessment models.

Keywords:

Hormesis adaptive response chlorine homeostasis oxidative stress

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Measurements of Physiological Stress Responses in C. Elegans

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Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System to Study Protein Homeostasis in a Multicellular Organism

Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System to Study Protein Homeostasis in a Multicellular Organism

Published on: December 18, 2013

Area of Science:

Environmental toxicology
Cellular biology
Biophysics

Background:

Hormetic dose-response relationships are observed for numerous endpoints following exposure to environmental stressors.
Cellular U- or inverted U-shaped responses may stem from adaptive mechanisms that protect cells in stressful environments.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the hypothesis that adaptive responses to stressors, like chlorine, lead to U- or inverted U-shaped dose-response curves.
To explore the energetic trade-offs associated with cellular adaptation and their impact on basal cellular functions.
To refine risk assessment practices by incorporating adaptive response dynamics.

Main Methods:

Utilized cellular studies to examine dose-response relationships.
Performed gene expression analysis to understand stress response pathways.
Employed computational modeling to simulate the activation of control networks.

Main Results:

Observed discrete cellular states (normal, adaptive, stressed, toxic) contingent on exposure concentration and duration.
Demonstrated that adaptive pathways extend cellular homeostasis but incur energetic costs.
Identified potential for U- or inverted U-shaped curves in precursor endpoints due to resource trade-offs.

Conclusions:

Cellular adaptive responses to environmental stressors can result in non-linear dose-response curves.
The energetic cost of adaptation influences cellular function and may explain observed response patterns.
Findings suggest a need to update risk assessment methodologies to account for adaptive responses.