Dr. Jim Willett's Laboratory
Mentors: Dr. Jim Willett and Dr. Gita Sudama
Potential 2012 Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Project
* Laboratory located at Mason's Prince William Campus
Metabolic Profiling of the Signalosome in Very Old Nematodes
Metabolic profiling of an array of signaling processes in the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans is employed in attempts to reveal changes within these sets of signals that correlate with the transition from robust adult on into senescence. What happens within this set of metabolites as robust adults begin their transition into that terminal state of development; senescence, that precedes the organisms’ death? Do metabolic markers correlate with the phenotypic changes so characteristic of senescence? Are there specific metabolites within this signalosome that are associated with the measureable biological markers of aging; altered locomotion, increased cellular fragility and accumulation of cellular pigmentation, that are characteristic of and define senescence in this organism as well as other animals, including ourselves.