Development of an Integrated Imaging System for C. elegans Aging Research (I)

According to the definition described by WHO that the population of 65-year old people is 7% of the total population, is called an “aging society”. Based on 2011 Taiwan census, it found that the people over 65 year old is 10.8%, indicating that Taiwan is an “aging society” and approaching to an “aged society”. Therefore, health aging research is one of important topics for biomedical research. In this three year co-joint project, we will enforce the strength of industry partner in developing high-resolution imaging system to build a fast and reliable machine which is able to do high-through put screening of drugs in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) model. We predict this machine will be distributed worldwide and the economic value will be over 1000 million NT$. C. elegans is an important model organism for studying aging due to it is short-life, small size and easy handle. It has been used to exploit the mechanism of aging as well as preliminary screen of anti-aging substances. Currently, the criteria for determining aging in C. elegans include life span, body movement, pharyngeal pumping and fluorescent aging pigment. However, these methods are labor intensive and easily subjective to man-made errors. Thus the development of an automated imaging system which circumvents these drawbacks can facilitate C. elegans aging research in academic laboratories as well as pharmaceutical industries. Currently, there is no such instrument on the market, although recent literature has indicated a similar equipment. However, its structure is complex and difficult to set up, and it is not designed to achieve high throughput settings. Therefore, the main objective of this project is to collaborate with industry to develop an automated imaging system to determine C. elegans aging: (1) to develop an imaging system to capture and track nematode movement trajectory and design software to evaluate nematode survival and movement trajectory, (2) to enhance the image resolution and software features to accurately determine the pharyngeal pumping, (3) to integrate a fluorescence system for detection of fluorescent aging pigment, and (4) to evaluate the capability of the system by anti-aging related products and drugs.

Project ID:PC10312-0042
External Project ID:MOST103-2622-B182-002-CC2