Wu Y C, Horvitz H R
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
Cell. 1998 Jun 12;93(6):951-60. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81201-5.
The C. elegans gene ced-7 functions in the engulfment of cell corpses during programmed cell death. We report that the CED-7 protein has sequence similarity to ABC transporters, is broadly expressed during embryogenesis, and is localized to the plasma membrane. Mosaic analysis revealed that ced-7 functions in both dying cells and engulfing cells during the engulfment process. We propose that CED-7 functions to translocate molecules that mediate homotypic adhesion between the cell surfaces of the dying and engulfing cells. Like CED-7, the mammalian ABC transporter ABC1 has been implicated in the engulfment of cell corpses, suggesting that CED-7 and ABC1 may be functionally similar and that the molecular mechanism underlying cell corpse engulfment during programmed cell death may be conserved from nematodes to mammals.
秀丽隐杆线虫基因ced-7在程序性细胞死亡过程中参与细胞尸体的吞噬作用。我们报告称，CED-7蛋白与ABC转运蛋白具有序列相似性，在胚胎发育过程中广泛表达，并定位于质膜。镶嵌分析表明，ced-7在吞噬过程中在垂死细胞和吞噬细胞中均发挥作用。我们提出，CED-7的功能是转运介导垂死细胞和吞噬细胞表面之间同型黏附的分子。与CED-7一样，哺乳动物ABC转运蛋白ABC1也与细胞尸体的吞噬有关，这表明CED-7和ABC1可能在功能上相似，并且程序性细胞死亡过程中细胞尸体吞噬的分子机制可能从线虫到哺乳动物都是保守的。
