Necrosis in C. elegans

To use Caenorhabditis elegans to study the mechanisms for initiation and execution of necrosis, the experimentalist should be familiar with the established models of necrosis in C. elegans and the genetic and molecular tools available. We present a summary of two contrasting models for studying necrosis in C. elegans and outline the methods for scoring necrosis in each. These methods are useful for the study of necrosis under other conditions in C. elegans and for comparative studies both between established and new necrosis models. We also present a list of the genetic and drug tools available for perturbing pathways known to be important for initiation or execution of necrosis and describe their use in C. elegans . Specifically, we outline methods to inhibit autophagy, to perturb calcium homeostasis, and to disrupt lysosomal function in the C. elegans system.