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Review
. 2016 Jun;73(11-12):2221-36.
doi: 10.1007/s00018-016-2196-z. Epub 2016 Apr 5.

Programmed cell death and clearance of cell corpses in Caenorhabditis elegans

Xiaochen Wang  1 , Chonglin Yang  2
Affiliations
Review

Programmed cell death and clearance of cell corpses in Caenorhabditis elegans

Xiaochen Wang et al. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2016 Jun.

Abstract

Programmed cell death is critical to the development of diverse animal species from C. elegans to humans. In C. elegans, the cell death program has three genetically distinguishable phases. During the cell suicide phase, the core cell death machinery is activated through a protein interaction cascade. This activates the caspase CED-3, which promotes numerous pro-apoptotic activities including DNA degradation and exposure of the phosphatidylserine "eat me" signal on the cell corpse surface. Specification of the cell death fate involves transcriptional activation of the cell death initiator EGL-1 or the caspase CED-3 by coordinated actions of specific transcription factors in distinct cell types. In the cell corpse clearance stage, recognition of cell corpses by phagocytes triggers several signaling pathways to induce phagocytosis of apoptotic cell corpses. Cell corpse-enclosing phagosomes ultimately fuse with lysosomes for digestion of phagosomal contents. This article summarizes our current knowledge about programmed cell death and clearance of cell corpses in C. elegans.

Keywords: Apoptotic cell; C. elegans; Cell corpse clearance; Programmed cell death.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Activation of programmed cell death in C. elegans. a Representative images of refractile “button-like” apoptotic cells (indicated by arrows) in an embryo (left) and a gonad arm (right) of a hermaphrodite. Bars 5 μm. b Genetic pathway for cell death activation in C. elegans. Death signals may be transduced to egl-1, or ced-9, or ced-3 to activate apoptosis (see the text). Activating and inhibitory effects are designated by down arrow and perpendicular symbol, respectively; dashed lines represent proposed interactions
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Externalization and recognition of the PtdSer “eat me” signal in C. elegans. Known regulators of PtdSer externalization and PtdSer-recognizing receptors are shown. Activating and inhibitory effects are designated by down arrow and perpendicular symbol, respectively. CED-7, NRF-5, and TTR-52 mediate PtdSer efflux from the apoptotic cell [113, 114]
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Multiple signaling pathways mediate cell corpse engulfment in C. elegans. Activating and inhibitory effects are designated by down arrow and perpendicular symbol, respectively. Dashed arrows indicate the proposed activation
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Formation and maturation of apoptotic cell-containing phagosomes in C. elegans. Stepwise regulation of phagosome formation (a) and maturation (b) is shown. Activating and inhibitory effects are designated by down arrow and perpendicular symbol, respectively. Dashed arrows indicate the proposed activation or recruitment that requires further investigation
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