Sana Shehzad, Mishal Razi and Maria Fitian

Abstract:

The cytoskeleton plays an integral role in cell migration. We set out to determine the role of cytoskeletal genes involved in cell migration in vivo by studying the long distance migration of the sex myoblasts cells in C.elegans. We’re performing an RNAi screen of ~120 genes associated with the cytoskeleton on a C.elegans myoblast lineage specific RNAi strain. C. elegans were grown on RNAi plates and scored young adults for brood size and developmental phenotypes. Preliminary data show that depletion of actin regulators impact development and brood size suggesting these regulators are required for proper cell migration. Future experiments will investigate the position and morphology of SM cells through further RNAi based experiments paired with imaging.