Exploring the Metabolic Networks of the Nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans and Ascaris suum for Potential Drug Targets
Date
2014-12-03
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Abstract
Ascaris suum and Ascaris lumbricoides are widespread parasitic nematodes infecting pigs and humans respectively, causing infections of health and economic importance. Resistance to the available drug treatments is emerging. Thus, there is an urgent need to explore novel drug targets. The free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is regarded as an ideal model for investigating nematode development and biochemistry. Here, we carefully reconstructed the metabolic networks for C. elegans and A. suum. The differential expression of enzymes across the two species’ life-cycle stages gave an insight into the development of the parasite. Chokepoint analysis was performed in both species, and its robustness test on the C. elegans network validated the method’s capacity to imperfect metabolic reconstruction. We identified 208 chokepoint enzymes in A. suum, and five of them were predicted as potential drug targets.
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Bioinformatics
Citation
Li, K. (2014). Exploring the Metabolic Networks of the Nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans and Ascaris suum for Potential Drug Targets (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26114