Journal
BMC BIOLOGY
Volume 14, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
BMC
DOI: 10.1186/s12915-016-0262-5
Keywords
Programmed cell death; Apoptosis; Phagocytosis; Engulfment; Phagoptosis; C. elegans
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Funding
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- NIH Pre-Doctoral Training Grant [T32GM007287]
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Background: Programmed cell deaths in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans are generally considered suicides. Dying cells are engulfed by neighboring cells in a process of phagocytosis. To better understand the interaction between the engulfment and death processes, we analyzed B.al/rapaav cell death, which has been previously described as engulfment-dependent and hence as a possible murder. Results: We found that B.al/rapaav is resistant to caspase-pathway activation: the caspase-mediated suicide pathway initiates the cell-death process but is insufficient to cause B.al/rapaav death without the subsequent assistance of engulfment. When the engulfing cell P12.pa is absent, other typically non-phagocytic cells can display cryptic engulfment potential and facilitate this death. Conclusions: We term this death an assisted suicide and propose that assisted suicides likely occur in other organisms. The study of assisted suicides might provide insight into non-cell autonomous influences on cell death. Understanding the mechanism that causes B.al/rapaav to be resistant to activation of the caspase pathway might reveal the basis of differences in the sensitivity to apoptotic stimuli of tumor and normal cells, a key issue in the field of cancer therapeutics.tumor
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