Tan Kevin S W, Nasirudeen A M A
Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Parasitology, Department of Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 5 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117597.
Trends Parasitol. 2005 Dec;21(12):547-50. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2005.09.006. Epub 2005 Oct 11.
Programmed cell death (PCD) is an essential process in the growth and development of multicellular organisms. However, accumulating evidence indicates that unicellular eukaryotes can also undergo PCD with apoptosis-like features. The protozoan parasite Blastocystis hominis has been reported to exhibit both apoptotic and non-apoptotic features of PCD when exposed to a variety of stimuli. Recent observations of PCD pathways in Blastocystis suggest that this protozoan, as is the case with its multicellular counterparts, possesses complex cell-death mechanisms.
程序性细胞死亡（PCD）是多细胞生物体生长和发育过程中的一个重要过程。然而，越来越多的证据表明，单细胞真核生物也可以经历具有凋亡样特征的PCD。据报道，原生动物寄生虫人芽囊原虫在受到各种刺激时会表现出PCD的凋亡和非凋亡特征。最近对人芽囊原虫PCD途径的观察表明，这种原生动物与其多细胞同类一样，拥有复杂的细胞死亡机制。
