Investigations on the physiological role of C. elegans aquaporins.

• Applicant: Dr. Anne-Katrin Rohlfing
• Subject Area: Animal Physiology and Biochemistry
• Term: from 2014 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 260361330

In invertebrate organisms, functions and regulation of aquaporins are still quite elusive. The immediate aim of this project is to reveal the physiological significance of aquaporins in epithelial tissues of Caenorhabditis elegans which is widely used as a model organism. In particular, we will determine the role(s) of aquaporins in the response to osmotic stress in order to complete our picture on the osmoregulatory processes and the stress responses of C. elegans. We want to (1) test the osmotic stress resistance of aquaporin mutants or RNAi knock down animals to gain information about the physiological role of the aquaporin under osmotic stress conditions, (2) analyse changes of the mRNA and protein abundance of epithelial expressed aquaporins under acute and chronic osmotic stress conditions to understand the regulation of aquaporin expression, (3) reveal the signalling pathways that are important in stress-mediated aquaporin regulation, and (4) obtain information on the impact of the vasopressin signalling pathway on the water balance of C. elegans. Thereby, we may reveal the first physiological function of vasopressin in C. elegans, beside its recently demonstrated role in behaviour. This project will also help to understand the function of the excretory cell in C. elegans and provide information on whether glycerol is actually secreted by the excretory cell.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants