Interferência da azida de sódio no desenvolvimento de Caenorhabditis elegans (Nematoda: Caenorhabditis)

Abstract

The nematode Caernohabditis elegans (Maupas, 1900) is an alternative laboratory model animal, widely used in laboratories, because this worm shares around 42% of orthologous genes with humans, has its entire genome sequence encoded and is not a parasite. For this reason, C. elegans was the model chosen for the laboratory's line of research and for our project, in order to investigate the interference of sodium azide in its biological development. NaN3 is a white crystalline solid inorganic compound that is highly toxic and lethal in small quantities. Its mechanism of action is the inhibition of cytochrome C oxidase. Its practical effect on C. elegans is temporary and dose-dependent anesthesia. For our project, the experiment was carried out with different groups, one containing animals of all stages and the other Dauer larvae. Two culture media were used (solid and liquid) and three experimental conditions were used: an overdose of 1M NaN3 and a sub-dose of 1mM NaN3. The observations of both groups were analyzed at 20 min, 1h, 3h, 5h and 24h, totaling five readings taken in triplicate. As a result, NaN3 interfered in the motility of C. elegans, in the biological cycle and changed the appearance of the worm's cuticle. However, the group of larvae submitted to 1mM NaN3 in liquid medium showed better resistance. For this factor, it was discussed that the proteins UPRmt, Hps70, Hps16, gmap-1 and mtROS are possibly involved in the cytoprotection process during exposure of the nematode to NaN3 in both experiments.