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Genetic And Molecular Characterization Of Programmed Cell Death In The C.Elegans Tail-Spike Cell, Carine Waase-Maurer

Student Theses and Dissertations

Work in Caenorhabditis elegans has been instrumental in deciphering the molecular basis of programmed cell death. However, despite extensive characterization of broadacting cell death genes, the molecular events triggering cell-specific activation of the cell death machinery remain, for the most part, unknown. In some C. elegans somatic cells, transcription of the egl-1 /BH3-only gene is believed to promoted cell-specific death. EGL-1 protein inhibits the CED-9/Bcl-2 protein, resulting in release of the caspase activator CED-4/Apaf-1. Subsequent activation of CED-3 caspase by CED-4 leads to cell death. But despite the important role of egl-1 transcription in promoting CED-3 activity in cells destined …