# RNA Mediated Genetic Interference in C. elegans

> **NIH NIH R37** · UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER · 2021 · $368,500

## Abstract

RNA interference (RNAi) was originally described as a gene silencing mechanism triggered by the experimental
introduction of double stranded (ds)RNA into the nematode C. elegans (Fire et al., 1998). The term RNAi now refers
to a diverse set of gene-regulatory mechanisms that share common features, including the involvement of short 21- to
30-nucleotide (nt) RNAs and protein cofactors of the Argonaute (RNase H-related) protein family. As an
experimental tool, RN Ai is of broad relevance to basic biomedical research, and RN Ai therapeutics are now approved
and under development for several clinical applications. RNAi-related mechanisms function in conserved generegulato1y
pathways that are of basic and fundamental importance to human cellular and developmental biology.
Remarkably, RNAi-related mechanisms in C.elegans keep inventory of all mRNAs and license gene expression in the
germline, passing this information via the egg and sperm from one generation to the next. Distinct Argonaute
pathways function in the transgenerational inheritance of small-RNA signals that constitute the CSR-1
"self'/protective (RNAa pathway) and the WAGO "non-self'/silencing (RNAe pathway). A third Argonaute pathway,
the PRG-1/Piwi pathway scans germline mRNA for foreign sequences. Aim 1 will explore how these Argonaute
pathways identify their targets and recruit downstream factors. Aim 2 will investigate how these Argonaute pathways
interact to mediate genome-wide transcriptional surveillance. And finally, Aim 3 will use genetic screens to identify
new genes required for RNAi and the related RNAe, RNAa, and newly identified "intronless-silencing" pathways.
The ability to combine classical genetics with technology, including deep-sequencing, facile CRlSPR-mediated
genome editing, and proteomics, make C. elegans an ideal system for these studies. The mechanisms and protein
families that mediate RNAi are highly conserved in animals and therefore insights from the proposed studies will be
directly relevant to human biology and disease. These studies will shed light on an ancient gene-regulatory mechanism
whose correlates in humans are likely to play important conserved roles in the protection of the human genome and
the maintenance of stem cells.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10139053
- **Project number:** 5R37GM058800-23
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** CRAIG C MELLO
- **Activity code:** R37 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $368,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-05-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10139053

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10139053, RNA Mediated Genetic Interference in C. elegans (5R37GM058800-23). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10139053. Licensed CC0.

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