Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Dev Dyn. 2010 May;239(5):1337-51. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.22230.
The simple nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans has been instrumental in deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying apoptosis. Beyond apoptosis, several paradigms of non-apoptotic cell death, either genetically or extrinsically triggered, have also been described in C. elegans. Remarkably, non-apoptotic cell death in worms and pathological cell death in humans share numerous key features and mechanistic aspects. Such commonalities suggest that similarly to apoptosis, non-apoptotic cell death mechanisms are also conserved, and render the worm a useful organism, in which to model and dissect human pathologies. Indeed, the genetic malleability and the sophisticated molecular tools available for C. elegans have contributed decisively to advance our understanding of non-apoptotic cell death. Here, we review the literature on the various types of non-apoptotic cell death in C. elegans and discuss the implications, relevant to pathological conditions in humans.
秀丽隐杆线虫是一种简单的线虫，它在解析细胞凋亡的分子机制方面发挥了重要作用。除了细胞凋亡外，秀丽隐杆线虫中还描述了几种由遗传或外在因素触发的非细胞凋亡性细胞死亡模式。值得注意的是，线虫中的非细胞凋亡性细胞死亡和人类的病理性细胞死亡具有许多共同的关键特征和机制方面。这些相似性表明，与细胞凋亡一样，非细胞凋亡性细胞死亡机制也是保守的，这使得线虫成为一种有用的生物体，可以在其中模拟和剖析人类疾病。事实上，线虫的遗传可操作性和丰富的分子工具为我们深入了解非细胞凋亡性细胞死亡做出了重要贡献。在这里，我们回顾了秀丽隐杆线虫中非细胞凋亡性细胞死亡的各种类型，并讨论了与人类病理状况相关的意义。
