title: Drosophila model for studying phagocytosis following neuronal cell death.
abstract: During central nervous system (CNS ) development, a large number of neurons die by apoptosis and are efficiently removed through phagocytosis. Since apoptosis and apoptotic cell clearance are highly conserved in evolution, relatively simple and easily accessible Drosophila embryonic CNS provides a good model to study molecular and cellular mechanisms of these processes. Here, we describe how to assess neuronal apoptosis and glial phagocytosis of apoptotic neurons using immunohistochemistry of whole fixed embryos and live imaging of developing embryonic CNS. Combination of these different strategies allows a comprehensive analysis of neuronal cell death in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 9697, Haifa, 31096, Israel.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shklyar
authors.forename: Flonia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Levy-Adam
authors.forename: Estee
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kurant
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016923:Cell Death / Q000235:genetics*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004330:Drosophila; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000235:genetics*