Article Abstract:
The gene ced-4 in caenorhabditis elegans has both cell-killing and cell-protecting functions. The major transcript encoded in the gene causes programmed cell death while the minor transcript prevents programmed cell death. Studies show that a balance between opposing ced-4 functions influences the decision of a cell to live or die by programmed cell death. Moreover, programmed cell death can be prevented by a combination of the ced-4 and the bcl-2-like gene ced-9's cell-protective functions.
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Article Abstract:
Two components of the cell death pathway have been identified in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cells contribute to their own demise from a complex interplay between factors that lead to and prevent cell death. The Bax and Bcl-2 proteins incorporate functions and properties that cause them to kill mammalian cells required to kill yeast cells, supporting the concept that yeast can be utilized as a medium for identifying metazoan cell-death factors.
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Article Abstract:
The sex-specific death in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is investigated by examining two of its regulatory pathways; one that controls the sexual phenotype and the other that controls cell death. Results show that TRA-1A will bind the egl-1 site in vitro and the each of the three different gain-of-function alterations significantly reduce TRA-1A binding to this site. Moreover, one of these three mutations is waeker in its in vivo effects.
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