Hengartner, M. O. (1999) Programmed cell death in the nematode C. elegans. Recent Progress in Hormone Research, 54. 213-22; discussion 222. ISSN 0079-9963 (Print)
Abstract
Programmed cell death is a common feature during animal development. In the nematode C. elegans, more than 12 genes have been identified that function in the apoptotic killing and elimination of 131 of the 1090 cells that are generated during hermaphrodite development. These genes divide the process of programmed cell death into three distinct steps: execution of the death sentence; engulfment of dying cells; and degradation of dead, engulfed cells. Biochemical characterization of the genes in this pathway has led to the identification of an apoptotic machinery that mediates apoptotic death in this species. The proximal cause of apoptosis in C. elegans is the activation of the caspase homolog CED-3 from the inactive zymogen (proCED-3) into the mature protease. This activation is mediated by the Apaf-1 homolog CED-4. In cells that should survive, CED-3 and CED-4 pro-apoptotic activity is antagonized by the Bcl-2 family member CED-9. CED-9 has been proposed to prevent death by sequestering CED-4 and proCED-3 in an inactive ternary complex, the apoptosome. In cells fated to die, CED-9 is, in turn, inactivated by the pro-apoptotic BH3 domain-containing protein EGL-1, likely through a direct protein-protein interaction. The structural and functional conservation of cell death genes between nematodes and mammals strongly suggests that the apoptotic program is ancient in origin and that all metazoans share a common mechanism of apoptotic cell killing.
| Item Type: | Paper |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Animals Apoptosis/physiology Caenorhabditis elegans/ anatomy & histology Evolution Mammals/anatomy & histology Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. |
| Subjects: | organism description > animal > C elegans organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > cell types and functions > cell functions > apoptosis evolution organism description > animal > mammal |
| CSHL Authors: | |
| Communities: | CSHL labs > Hengartner lab |
| Depositing User: | Kathleen Darby |
| Date: | 1999 |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Apr 2014 16:34 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Apr 2014 16:34 |
| URI: | https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/29851 |
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