Programmed cell death (PCD) plays a fundamental role in animal development and tissue
homeostasis. Abnormal regulation of this process is associated with a wide variety of human …

Mitochondria play key roles in activating apoptosis in mammalian cells. Bcl-2 family
members regulate the release of proteins from the space between the mitochondrial inner …

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and is
characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra …

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for the degradation of cellular
components in the cytoplasm, and serves as a cell survival mechanism in starving cells …

The first proapoptotic caspase, CED-3, was cloned from Caenorhabditis elegans in 1993
and shown to be essential for the developmental death of all somatic cells. Following the …

The population genetic perspective is that the processes shaping genomic variation can be
revealed only through simultaneous investigation of sequence polymorphism and …

Caspases are at the core of executing apoptosis by orchestrating cellular destruction with
proteolytic cascades. Caspase-mediated proteolysis also controls diverse nonlethal cellular …

Drosophila melanogaster spermatids undergo dramatic morphological changes as they
differentiate from small round cells approximately 12 μm in diameter into highly polarized …

Achieving proper organ size requires a balance between proliferation and cell death. For
example, at least 40%–60% of cells in the Drosophila wing disc can be lost, yet these discs …

The phenotypic and biochemical similarities between caspase-mediated apoptosis and
cellular differentiation are striking. They include such diverse phenomenon as mitochondrial …