Unraveling Molecular Targets for Neurodegenerative Diseases Through Caenorhabditis elegans Models

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington's disease (HD), and prion disease, represent a group of age-related disorders that pose a growing and formidable challenge to global health. Despite decades of extensive research that has uncovered key genetic factors and biochemical pathways, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases and effective therapeutic strategies remain elusive. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has emerged as a powerful model organism for studying NDDs due to its unique biological features such as genetic tractability, conserved molecular pathways, and ease of high-throughput screening. This model provides an exceptional platform for identifying molecular targets associated with NDDs and developing novel therapeutic interventions. This review highlights the critical role of C. elegans in elucidating the complex molecular mechanisms of human NDDs, with a particular focus on recent advancements and its indispensable contributions to the discovery of molecular targets and therapeutic strategies for these NDDs.