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Epilepsy, brain tumors, Parkinson\u2019s disease, stroke and Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/strong> are common brain disorders. For these common brain disorders, there is no\u00a0cure but medical intervention can help to lessen the symptoms.\u00a0C. elegans <\/em>are model organisms to study Parkinson\u2019s Disease and Alzheimer\u2019s Disease; their rapid development make them great model organism to study these age-related diseases. Additionally, their ease of genetic manipulation makes C. elegans\u00a0<\/em>a great model organism to study specific genes related to any of these diseases. However, because of the major structural differences between human and C. elegans brains, mice are more\u00a0frequently used to model these disorders.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1. Epilepsy:\u00a0<\/strong>recurrent, spontaneous seizures (Scharfman, 2008<\/a>).<\/p>\n Mechanism of disease<\/em>: genetic causes, developmental disorders or malformations, response to insult \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0or injury.<\/p>\n Treatment:\u00a0<\/em>few common seizure-preventing drugs, as well as surgical intervention if treatment by medication fails (Epilepsy Foundation of America<\/a>).<\/p>\n C. elegans as a model for epilepsy:\u00a0<\/em>still in its infancy. However, there are a few\u00a0C. elegans<\/em> epilepsy models (1) gain-of-function mutation in an acetylcholine receptor (2)\u00a0lis-1\u00a0<\/em>mutation which causes lissencephaly, an epilepsy-prone disease (3) mutations in genes involved in GABA synthesis resulting in convulsions (Cunliffe et al., 2015<\/a>).<\/p>\n 2. Brain tumors<\/strong><\/p>\n Mechanism of disease<\/em>: uncontrollable cell growth.<\/p>\n Treatment:\u00a0<\/em>treatment is dependent on the type of malignant tumor. For example, glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer, and treatment options include surgically removing the tumor and radiation and oral chemotherapy. However, this treatment is not curative, but standard of care can add approximately 1 year to life: maximal resection of the tumor adds approximately 9mths, radiation approximately 5mths and oral chemo approximately 9 weeks\u00a0(Hopkins Medicine<\/a>).<\/p>\n C. elegans as a model for brain cancer<\/em>: human cell cycles genes implicated in tumor research have orthologs in C. elegans<\/em>\u00a0(Kirienko et al., 2010<\/a>).<\/em>\u00a0If C. elegans<\/em> are used in cancer research, they are most commonly used to understand cell fate changes when\u00a0tumor-specific genes are mutated (Saito and van den Heuvel, 2002<\/a>).<\/p>\n 3. Parkinson’s disease<\/strong><\/p>\n Mechanism of disease<\/em>:\u00a0selective cell death in which the dopaminergic neurons are lost (Cacabelos, 2017<\/a>).<\/p>\n Treatment:<\/em> Parkinson\u2019s disease treats to lessen a patient\u2019s symptoms, but there is no way to reverse the effects of the disease (Parkinson\u2019s Foundation<\/a>).<\/p>\n C. elegans as a model for Parkinson’s disease<\/em>: specific genes have been discovered for monogenic, involving one gene, forms of Parkinson’s disease, allowing for the creation of\u00a0C. elegans<\/em> models where these genes are altered (Cooper and Van Raamsdonk, 2018<\/a>).<\/p>\n 4. Stroke<\/strong><\/p>\n Mechanism of disease<\/em>:\u00a0interrupted or reduced blood flow to the brain causing brain cell death (Mayo Clinic, 2019<\/a>).<\/p>\n Treatment: <\/em>Strokes can be drug treated or treated with medical devices that help to remove the clotted blood vessel. Long-term effects are minimized the quicker medical intervention proceeds following the onset of a stroke (National Stroke Association<\/a>).<\/p>\n C. elegans as a model for\u00a0stroke<\/em>: not generally used.<\/p>\n 5. Alzheimer’s disease<\/strong><\/p>\n Mechanism of disease<\/em>: underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood\u00a0but genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors have been implicated. A build up of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are main features of the disease, but the precise cause of these build ups are not known.<\/p>\n Treatment: <\/em>There are drug treatments available to lessen the symptoms of Alzheimer\u2019s disease, although there is no cure (National Institute on Aging<\/a>).<\/p>\n