title: Does ectopic cell death cause somatic mutations in the neighboring cells by activating transposons?
abstract: Ectopic cell death inDrosophilaproduces a nonautonomous inhibition of RNA interference (RNAi) in neighboring normal cells. The expression of transposable elements (TE) is increased due to this reduction in the silencing mechanism. New insertions of TE have been documented in mutants for RNAi functions. These observations raise the possibility that persistent environmental insults that produce cell death might increase the frequency of somatic mutations, which might trigger somatic genetic disease.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Sciences; University of Missouri; Columbia, MO USA.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Birchler
keywords: RNAi; cell death; signaling; somatic mutation; transposons