Gumienny T L, Hengartner M O
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
Cell Death Differ. 2001 Jun;8(6):564-8. doi: 10.1038/sj.cdd.4400850.
Apoptotic cell death in the nematode C. elegans culminates with the removal of the dying cells from the organism. This removal is brought forth through a rapid and specific engulfment of the doomed cell by one of its neighbors. Over half a dozen genes have been identified that function in this process in the worm. Many of these engulfment genes have functional homologs in Drosophila and higher vertebrates. Indeed, there is growing evidence supporting the hypothesis that the pathways that mediate the removal of apoptotic cells might be, at least in part, conserved through evolution.
线虫秀丽隐杆线虫中的细胞凋亡性死亡以从生物体中清除垂死细胞而告终。这种清除是通过其一个邻居对注定要死的细胞进行快速而特异性的吞噬来实现的。已经鉴定出超过半打的基因在蠕虫的这个过程中发挥作用。这些吞噬基因中的许多在果蝇和高等脊椎动物中具有功能同源物。事实上，越来越多的证据支持这样一种假说，即介导凋亡细胞清除的途径可能至少部分地在进化过程中是保守的。
