Regulation of developmental cell death in the animal kingdom: a critical analysis of epigenetic versus genetic factors

The present paper proposes a new level of regulation of programmed cell death (PCD) in developing systems based on epigenetics. We argue against the traditional view of PCD as an altruistic "cell suicide" activated by specific gene-encoded signals with the function of favoring the developm...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Montero Simón, Juan Antonio|||0000-0001-9099-5344, Lorda Díez, Carlos Ignacio|||0000-0002-3248-9918, Hurlé González, Juan M.|||0000-0002-4685-025X
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
Repositorio:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/28638
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10902/28638
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Apoptosis
Programmed cell death
Necrosis
Caspase
Lysosome
Senescence
Descripción
Sumario:The present paper proposes a new level of regulation of programmed cell death (PCD) in developing systems based on epigenetics. We argue against the traditional view of PCD as an altruistic "cell suicide" activated by specific gene-encoded signals with the function of favoring the development of their neighboring progenitors to properly form embryonic organs. In contrast, we propose that signals and local tissue interactions responsible for growth and differentiation of the embryonic tissues generate domains where cells retain an epigenetic profile sensitive to DNA damage that results in its subsequent elimination in a fashion reminiscent of what happens with scaffolding at the end of the construction of a building. Canonical death genes, including Bcl-2 family members, caspases, and lysosomal proteases, would reflect the downstream molecular machinery that executes the dying process rather than being master cell death regulatory signals.