3 Programmed Cell Death and Its
Regulation and Initiation in C. elegans
B. Conradt
3.1
Programmed Cell Death Is an Important Physiological Process . .. 35
3.2
C. elegans Is Amenable to Genetic Analyses
of the Programmed Cell-Death Process ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 36
3.3
A Genetic Pathway Underlies the Process
of Programmed Cell Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 37
3.4
The Programmed Cell-Death Pathway Has Been Conserved
Through Evolution ...................................... 39
3.5
Elucidating the Molecular Mechanism
of the Programmed Cell-Death Process ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 41
3.6
The Gene Product of egl-l Initiates Programmed Cell Death
in C. elegans ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 43
3.7,
Cell-Death Initiation Might Be Regulated
by Cell-Type Specific Factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 45
3.8
Programmed Cell Death Is Initiated by Two Independent Pathways
in C. elegans .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 48
3.9
Conclusions ............................................ 49
References .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 50
3.1 Programmed Cell Death Is an Important Physiological
Process
The proliferation of cells is an integral part of development and tissue
homeostasis in multicellular animals (reviewed by Raff 1996; Follette
and O'Farrell 1997). Two opposing processes, the division of cells on