title: Genetic control of programmed cell death in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Studies of the development of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans established that programmed cell death involves specific genes and proteins and that those genes and proteins act within the cells that die. This finding revealed that cell death is a fundamental and active biological process, much like cell division and cell differentiation. The characterization of genes responsible for programmed cell death in C. elegans has defined a molecular genetic pathway. This pathway is conserved evolutionarily and provides a basis for understanding programmed cell death in more complex organisms, including humans. Knowledge of the mechanisms of programmed cell death should help lead to new methods for the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases characterized by too many or too few cell deaths, including cancer.
authors: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
authors: H R
authors: HR
authors: Horvitz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics*; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000502:physiology; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; C100663:CES-2 protein, C elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C087233:Ced-9 protein, C elegans; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C490671:HLF protein, human; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D014157:Transcription Factors