%0 Journal Article
%T The Effect of Vitamin E on the Survival Rate of unc-13 Caenorhabditis elegans mutants under Oxidative Stress
%A Jessica Porcelan
%A Erica Schindewolf
%A Kaitlyn Storey
%A Kirsten King
%J Impulse : an Undergraduate Journal for Neuroscience
%D 2012
%I Appalachian State University Honors College
%X Caenorhabditis elegans unc-13 mutants express decreased neuronal activity and thus are a good model strain for examining defective nervous systems. These unc-13 mutants as well as wild type N2 strains, show rapid mortality when under oxidative stress. However, the antioxidant vitamin E may prolong survival in unc-13 mutant and N2 strains under oxidative stress. The addition of vitamin E to organisms under oxidative stress has a protective effect in both N2 and unc-13 C. elegans strains. Interestingly, vitamin E resulted in a greater increase in survival rate in N2 worms than with unc-13 mutant worms. While both strains displayed lower mortality rates with the addition of vitamin E, this finding suggests that vitamin E more efficiently increases survival rates of C. elegans with typical nervous system function. The efficacy of vitamin E implies that use of antioxidants may lessen the damage caused by oxidative stress in both N2 and mutant worms.
%K antioxidant
%K neurodegeneration
%K reactive oxygen species
%K survival rate
%K vitamin E
%U http://impulse.appstate.edu/sites/impulse.appstate.edu/files/Porcelan_final.pdf