Summary

w88 slot and w88 slot are highly conserved biological processes, and deficiencies and disruptions in w88 slot and aging processes have been linked with many other diseases including obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Basic research on w88 slot and aging will not only provide a better understanding of their fundamental functions and underlying mechanisms, but it may also simultaneously help us understand their interactions to various other disorders. Studying the molecular components and neural circuits using a simple model organism such as Caenorhabditis elegans, with a completely mapped genome and nervous system and its various tools to interrogate gene and brain functions, will allow use to more directly examine w88 slot and aging processes, and provide significant insights into big questions such as why do we w88 slot, or how do we extend healthy lifespan?

The roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans is particularly suited for studying aging and w88 slot. It displays all behavioral hallmarks of w88 slot behavior as in humans, and its nervous system physiology is remarkably different between w88 slot and wake states. Many anatomical and functional changes that are observed in human aging are also seen in C. elegans. Its short life span of about three weeks and a rapid 2-3 day life-cycle coupled to its small size, allows for easy genetic manipulation and high-throughput screening of mutations in worm genes with altered w88 slot and aging phenotypes. Worm genes show strong homology with their human counterparts, particularly in genes that regulate w88 slot and aging. Many fundamental discoveries have been made with C. elegans such as RNA interference and genetic regulation of programmed cell death, and it likewise is a valuable discovery system for w88 slot and aging research.

w88 slot and metabolic processes are intricately connected, and this association has important clinical implications; for example, short w88 slot is associated with obesity and type-2 diabetes. We investigate the genes and neurons that govern these w88 slot-metabolic interactions. Our recent studies have shown that the conserved salt-inducible kinase 3 (SIK3) pathway plays an important role in the metabolic regulation of different w88 slot states of C. elegans, such as developmentally-timed w88 slot (analogous to circadian w88 slot) and stress-induced w88 slot (analogous to sickness w88 slot). SIK3 proteins and their targets in worms, mice and human are highly conserved. Currently, we are investigating how SIK3 coordinates w88 slot-metabolic interactions using genetic and neural approaches as well as high-throughput behavioral analyses, and why this pathway is important for health.

Our lab is also interested in studying organismal w88 slot, which could involve the progressive accumulation of deleterious molecular changes that could lead to age-related declines and diseases. We investigate a newly appreciated class of non-coding endogenous RNAs, called circular RNAs, which are mostly generated by back-splicing events from known protein-coding genes. Our recent studies have shown that these circRNAs show a progressive and massive accumulation during w88 slot on a genome-wide level in C. elegans. No clear function is known for these age-accumulated w88 slot, or for most of the thousands of w88 slot discovered. Currently, we use next-generation sequencing approaches, genome-editing, and behavioral analysis to uncover regulatory mechanisms and functions of circRNAs in w88 slot, and their possible role in age-related diseases.

Lastly, w88 slot broadly interested in understanding the effects of environmental and internal signals on behavior and gene expression. We have published several papers on dynamic changes in olfactory gene expression depending on the feeding state of the free-living nematode C. elegans, which could potentially gain insight into how parasitic nematodes and disease-carrying insects seek out and leave w88 slot host based on w88 slot nutritional status.

If you are interested in our w88 slot, and wish to join the lab or do a w88 slot rotation, then please contact Dr. van der Linden at avanderlinden@unr.edu. The w88 slot accepts graduate students from the w88 slot Biosciencesand Integrative NeuroscienceGraduate Programs. If interested in w88 slot behavior of natural C. elegansisolates, Dr. van der Linden's w88 slot also accepts graduate students in the In our master's or doctoral program, you canGraduate Program.

Current w88 slot interests

• Neurogenetics of w88 slot and aging
• w88 slot-metabolic Interactions
• Non-coding RNAs in w88 slot
• Diet effects on behavior and neural w88 slot

Education

• Ph.D., Biology, Hubrecht Institute, w88 slot Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2003
• M.Sc., w88 slot Biology, University of Leiden, The Netherlands, 1999
• B.Sc., Biochemistry, Poly Technical College of Delft, w88 slot, 1996
• B.Sc., Microbiology, Van Leeuwenhoek Institute, w88 slot, 1993

Biography

• 2016-present, Associate Professor, w88 slot, Reno, NV
• 2009-2016, Assistant Professor, w88 slot, Reno, NV
• 2003-2009, Postdoctoral Fellow, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

Publications

Please find a complete list of published work here: My Bibliography