A study of Caenorhabditis elegans DAF-2 mutants by metabolomics and differential correlation networks

Mol Biosyst. 2013 Jul;9(7):1632-42. doi: 10.1039/c3mb25539e. Epub 2013 Mar 11.

Abstract

daf-2 is one of the most studied mutants in C. elegans: it contains a deletion in the gene orthologue of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) receptor. Using high resolution (1)H NMR spectroscopy, metabolomics has helped to dissect the metabolic consequences of altered daf-2 signalling. Here, we present a detailed metabolomic analysis of daf-2, using NMR spectroscopy, gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to integrate information from different pathways. We have then used Pearson and partial correlation analysis to build networks to explore the central role of daf-2 in regulating fatty acid and amino acid metabolism. The results show the tight regulation between these two parts of the metabolome.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acids / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics*
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / metabolism*
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / genetics
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / metabolism*
  • Fatty Acids / metabolism
  • Metabolic Networks and Pathways
  • Metabolomics* / methods
  • Mutant Proteins*
  • Receptor, Insulin / genetics
  • Receptor, Insulin / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction*
  • Temperature

Substances

  • Amino Acids
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
  • Fatty Acids
  • Mutant Proteins
  • DAF-2 protein, C elegans
  • Receptor, Insulin