Author: Aelon Rahmani
Rahmani, Aelon, 2025 Establishing protein proximity labelling tools in C. elegans to identify novel learning regulators, Flinders University, College of Medicine and Public Health
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Learning is important for survival. Many molecular pathways important for memory remain partially defined. This thesis details novel insights into memory from using an unconventional approach in C. elegans, called TurboID. This technique enzymatically biotinylates proximal proteins, enabling their isolation and identification by mass spectrometry. Here, TurboID captured >1000 unique proteins (89% known to express in neurons) from the whole nervous system (302 neurons), by limiting biotin to classical conditioning (with food and no salt). Novel regulators of learning were validated from TurboID data including cholinergic receptors (ACC-1, ACC-3, & LGC-46), and uncharacterised protein F46H5.3. This research demonstrates that proximity labelling can be feasibly and effectively used to profile the brain of a small animal during training, and thereby advance knowledge on the biology of learning.
Keywords: C. elegans, Caenorhabditis elegans, behaviour, learning, memory, TurboID, proteomics, memory encoding
Subject: Biology thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2025
School: College of Medicine and Public Health
Supervisor: A Prof Yee Lian Chew