The neurotrophic factor MANF regulates autophagy and lysosome function to promote proteostasis in Caenorhabditis elegans

Mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) is the only neurotrophic factor to be conserved between C. elegans and humans. MANF is a unique neutrotophic factor, as it is a resident ER protein in cells that express it and has a role in regulating ER stress response to tunicamycin exposure and pathogenic Pseudomonas exposure. We sought to further understand the role of MANF by comparing a deletion allele, an overexpression line, and the wild-type in this RNAseq experiment. In order to test the role of MANF, we looked at aging animals - we age-synchronized eggs via bleaching gravid adults and grew worms to adulthood. Adult worms were transferred to new plates daily during reproduction in order to separate adults from their offspring. On 8 days post-hatch, we collected worms and isolated RNA, then the Duke Sequencing Core performed poly-A mRNA enrichment and RNA-sequencing.