Citation:
Chen, F., Hersh, B. M., Conradt, B., Zhou, Z., Riemer, D., Gruenbaum, Y., & Horvitz, H. R. . (2000). Translocation of C. elegans CED-4 to nuclear membranes during programmed cell death. Science, 287(5457), 1485-9. presented at the 2000 Feb 25.
Date Published:
2000 Feb 25Abstract:
The Caenorhabditis elegans Bcl-2-like protein CED-9 prevents programmed cell death by antagonizing the Apaf-1-like cell-death activator CED-4. Endogenous CED-9 and CED-4 proteins localized to mitochondria in wild-type embryos, in which most cells survive. By contrast, in embryos in which cells had been induced to die, CED-4 assumed a perinuclear localization. CED-4 translocation induced by the cell-death activator EGL-1 was blocked by a gain-of-function mutation in ced-9 but was not dependent on ced-3 function, suggesting that CED-4 translocation precedes caspase activation and the execution phase of programmed cell death. Thus, a change in the subcellular localization of CED-4 may drive programmed cell death.