Tracking RNA Digestion in Vivo

The objective of this research is to understand what happens to RNA after ingestion in C. elegans, an established model organism used to understand basic principles in RNA and cell biology. C. elegans eat bacteria and use bacterial RNA to sense its environment. Despite knowing the critical molecular components for RNA uptake, there is a poor understanding of the specific mechanistic steps of RNA transportation. Is the RNA broken down before or after transport? Does the RNA distribute evenly to all cells in the worm or is it stored in specific compartments prior to uptake? Their translucent body enables direct observation of the expression, stability and trafficking of fluorescent RNA molecules. Using an inducible plasmid, an RNA that fluoresces when supplied a specific ligand was expressed in bacteria. Worms will be fed the bacteria and the fluorescent signal will be tracked by microscopy to understand what happens to RNA after ingestion. I expect to see RNA signal in the intestinal cells where they are taken up and potentially observe signal in the space outside of cells. My work will improve our general understanding of RNA metabolic breakdown, expanding the understanding of the roles of RNAs in human health and diseases.

Supervisor: Dr. Scott Aoki
Department: Biochemistry