title: Somatic gonad sheath cells and Eph receptor signaling promote germ-cell death in C. elegans.
abstract: Programmed cell death eliminates unwanted cells during normal development and physiological homeostasis. While cell interactions can influence apoptosis as they do other types of cell fate, outside of the adaptive immune system little is known about the intercellular cues that actively promote cell death in healthy cells. We used the Caenorhabditis elegans germline as a model to investigate the extrinsic regulators of physiological apoptosis. Using genetic and cell biological methods, we show that somatic gonad sheath cells, which also act as phagocytes of dying germ cells, promote death in the C. elegans germline through VAB-1/Eph receptor signaling. We report that the germline apoptosis function of VAB-1 impacts specific cell death pathways, and may act in parallel to extracellular signal-regulated kinase MAPK signaling. This work defines a non-autonomous, pro-apoptotic signaling for efficient physiological cell death, and highlights the dynamic nature of intercellular communication between dying cells and the phagocytes that remove them.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chin-Sang
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chamberlin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000378:metabolism; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006066:Gonads / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D034622:RNA Interference; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C111040:vab-1 protein, C elegans; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases