Abstract
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.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Amino Acid Substitution
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Animals
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Animals, Genetically Modified
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Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins
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Apoptosis*
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Caenorhabditis elegans / cytology*
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Caenorhabditis elegans / embryology
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Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics
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Caenorhabditis elegans / metabolism*
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins*
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Calcium-Binding Proteins / genetics
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Calcium-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
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Caspases*
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Cysteine Endopeptidases / genetics
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Cysteine Endopeptidases / metabolism
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Genes, Helminth
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Helminth Proteins / genetics
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Helminth Proteins / metabolism*
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Immunohistochemistry
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Mitochondria / metabolism
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Mutation
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Nuclear Envelope / metabolism*
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Phenotype
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins / genetics
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins / metabolism*
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
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Repressor Proteins / genetics
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Repressor Proteins / metabolism
Substances
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Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
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Calcium-Binding Proteins
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Ced-4 protein, C elegans
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Ced-9 protein, C elegans
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EGL-1 protein, C elegans
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Helminth Proteins
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
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Repressor Proteins
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Caspases
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Cysteine Endopeptidases
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ced-3 protein, C elegans