Caenorhabditis elegans genes required for the engulfment of apoptotic corpses function in the cytotoxic cell deaths induced by mutations in lin-24 and lin-33.
Two types of cell death have been studied extensively in Caenorhabditis elegans, programmed cell death and necrosis. We describe a novel type of cell death that occurs in animals containing mutations in either of two genes, lin-24 and lin-33. Gain-of-function mutations in lin-24 and lin-33 cause the inappropriate deaths of many of the Pn.p hypodermal blast cells and prevent the surviving Pn.p cells from expressing their normal developmental fates. The abnormal Pn.p cells in lin-24 and lin-33 mutant animals are morphologically distinct from the dying cells characteristic of C. elegans programmed cell deaths and necrotic cell deaths. lin-24 encodes a protein with homology to bacterial toxins. lin-33 encodes a novel protein. The cytotoxicity caused by mutation of either gene requires the function of the other. An evolutionarily conserved set of genes required for the efficient engulfment and removal of both apoptotic and necrotic cell corpses is required for the full cell-killing effect of mutant lin-24 and lin-33 genes, suggesting that engulfment promotes these cytotoxic cell deaths.
Galvin
Brendan D
BD
Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Kim
Saechin
S
Horvitz
H Robert
HR
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D000078404:Epidermal Cells; D004817:Epidermis / Q000502:physiology; D018628:Gene Dosage / Q000235:genetics; D017238:Genes, Helminth / Q000235:genetics*; D008857:Microscopy, Interference; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins