Building a temporal proteomics map of the developing Caenorhabditis elegans nervous system

The highly specialized neurons that make up the nervous system of an organism develop from a small number of precursor neural cells. This development is driven by a remodelling of the neuronal proteome.

Many neurological disorders have been attributed to the dysregulation of genes that are important for the development of neurons.

However, a systematic understanding of which genes or proteins control the complex process of neurodevelopment is so far missing.

Therefore, we aim to create a precise temporal map of proteome expression changes that occur during neurodevelopment, and systematically identify proteins that regulate this process.

We will take advantage of recent advances in proteomics techniques, such as metabolite and proximity labelling mass spectrometry, which enable the study of tissue-specific protein expression in model organisms.

We will use this map to identify proteome changes associated with the assembly and maintenance of neural circuits in Caenorhabditis elegans, with focus on microtubule-related proteins.

We expect that this will help to understand how the temporal expression of microtubule-related proteins in neurons affect the development and maintenance of neural circuits and facilitate the development of therapies against neurological disorders.