Autophagy constitutes a fundamental survival strategy of cells; its disturbance contributes to the pathogenesis of cancer, liver and immune disease, pathogen infection, myopathies as well as neurodegenerative disorders such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson;s, Huntington;s and Alzheimer;s disease. The pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases also involves a gradual and progressive l...

Programmed cell death (PCD) in plant is triggered by abiotic and biotic stress. Light-dependent PCD is unique to plants. Light-induced PCD also requires reactive oxygen species (ROS) and salicylic acid (SA). In this study, lesion simulating disease1 (LSD1) and elongated hypocotyl 5 (HY5) perform opposite roles to regulate excess red light (RL)-triggered PCD associated with ROS and SA production...

Programmed cell death (PCD) is indispensable for eukaryotic development. In animals, PCD is executed by the caspase family of cysteine proteases. Plants do not have close homologues of caspases but possess a phylogenetically distant family of cysteine proteases named metacaspases. The cellular function of metacaspases in PCD is unknown. Here we show that during plant embryogenesis, metacaspase ...

The terminal differentiation and elimination of the embryo-suspensor is the earliest manifestation of programmed cell death (PCD) during plant ontogenesis. Molecular regulation of suspensor PCD remains poorly understood. Norway spruce (Picea abies) embryos provide a powerful model for studying embryo development because of their large size, sequenced genome, and the possibility to obtain a larg...

About 50% of spinal motoneurons undergo programmed cell death (PCD) after target contact, but little is known about how this process is initiated. Embryonic motoneurons coexpress the death receptor Fas and its ligand FasL at the stage at which PCD is about to begin. In the absence of trophic factors, many motoneurons die in culture within 2 d. Most (75%) of these were saved by Fas-Fc receptor b...

A ctin depolymerization is a death trigger for poppy pollen, according to Thomas et al. (page 221), that prevents self-fertilization. Some plants prefer not to be fertilized by pollen grains that are genetically similar to themselves. These plants express self-incompatibility (S) proteins. A match between the pistil’s S-proteins and the pollen’s S-allele triggers a rapid calcium infl ux, actin ...

The selective and regulated elimination of certain cells is an effective mechanism to ensure the maintenance of homeostasis in both plants and animals. This is possible through a genetically regulated process called programmed cell death (PCD). Morphological and biochemical hallmarks of PCD or apoptosis in animals can also be observed in PCD of plants. Furthermore, genetic similarities between ...

Major barriers separating the blood from tissue compartments in the body are composed of endothelial cells. Interaction of bacteria with such barriers defines the course of invasive infections, and meningitis has served as a model system to study endothelial cell injury. Here we report the impressive ability of Streptococcus pneumoniae, clinically one of the most important pathogens, to induce ...

The AvrPtoB type III effector protein is conserved among diverse genera of plant pathogens suggesting it plays an important role in pathogenesis. Here we report that Pseudomonas AvrPtoB acts inside the plant cell to inhibit programmed cell death (PCD) initiated by the Pto and Cf9 disease resistance proteins and, remarkably, the pro-apoptotic mouse protein Bax. AvrPtoB also suppressed PCD in yea...

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is activated to sustain cell survival by reducing misfolded protein accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The UPR also promotes programmed cell death (PCD) when the ER stress is severe; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are less understood, especially in plants. Previously, two membrane-associated transcriptions factors (MTFs), bZIP28 and...