Faculty Opinions recommendation of Residual body removal during spermatogenesis in C. elegans requires genes that mediate cell corpse clearance.

Phagocytic removal of apoptotic cells involves formation, maturation, and digestion of cell corpse–containing phagosomes. The retrieval of lysosomal components following phagolysosomal digestion of cell corpses remains poorly understood. Here we reveal that the amino acid transporter SLC-36.1 is essential for lysosome reformation during cell corpse clearance in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos. Loss of slc-36.1 leads to formation of phagolysosomal vacuoles arising from cell corpse–containing phagosomes. In the absence of slc-36.1, phagosome maturation is not affected, but the retrieval of lysosomal components is inhibited. Moreover, loss of PPK-3, the C. elegans homologue of the PtdIns3P 5-kinase PIKfyve, similarly causes accumulation of phagolysosomal vacuoles that are defective in phagocytic lysosome reformation. SLC-36.1 and PPK-3 function in the same genetic pathway, and they directly interact with one another. In addition, loss of slc-36.1 and ppk-3 causes strong defects in autophagic lysosome reformation in adult animals. Our findings thus suggest that the PPK-3–SLC-36.1 axis plays a central role in both phagocytic and autophagic lysosome formation.

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The phosphoinositide phosphatase MTM-1 regulates apoptotic cell corpse clearance through CED-5-CED-12 in C. elegans

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.060012 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 138 (10) ◽

pp. 2003-2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

L. J. Neukomm ◽

A.-S. Nicot ◽

J. M. Kinchen ◽

J. Almendinger ◽

S. M. Pinto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Apoptotic Cell ◽

C Elegans ◽

Phosphoinositide Phosphatase ◽

Cell Corpse ◽

Cell Corpse Clearance

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Small GTPase CDC-42 promotes apoptotic cell corpse clearance in response to PAT-2 and CED-1 in C. elegans

Cell Death and Differentiation ◽

10.1038/cdd.2014.23 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 21 (6) ◽

pp. 845-853 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

L J Neukomm ◽

S Zeng ◽

A P Frei ◽

P A Huegli ◽

M O Hengartner

Keyword(s):

Apoptotic Cell ◽

Small Gtpase ◽

C Elegans ◽

Cell Corpse ◽

Cell Corpse Clearance

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Autophagy genes promote apoptotic cell corpse clearance

Autophagy ◽

10.4161/auto.20786 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 8 (8) ◽

pp. 1267-1268 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Wei Zou ◽

Xiaochen Wang ◽

Ronald Vale ◽

Guangshuo Ou

Keyword(s):

Apoptotic Cell ◽

Cell Corpse ◽

Cell Corpse Clearance

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Three C. elegans Rac proteins and several alternative Rac regulators control axon guidance, cell migration and apoptotic cell phagocytosis

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.128.22.4475 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 128 (22) ◽

pp. 4475-4488 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Erik A. Lundquist ◽

Peter W. Reddien ◽

Erika Hartwieg ◽

H. Robert Horvitz ◽

Cornelia I. Bargmann

Keyword(s):

Cell Migration ◽

Axon Guidance ◽

Apoptotic Cell ◽

Regulatory Proteins ◽

Axon Pathfinding ◽

C Elegans ◽

Cell Corpse ◽

And Function ◽

Redundant Functions ◽

Caenorhabditis Elegans Genome

The Caenorhabditis elegans genome contains three rac-like genes, ced-10, mig-2, and rac-2. We report that ced-10, mig-2 and rac-2 act redundantly in axon pathfinding: inactivating one gene had little effect, but inactivating two or more genes perturbed both axon outgrowth and guidance. mig-2 and ced-10 also have redundant functions in some cell migrations. By contrast, ced-10 is uniquely required for cell-corpse phagocytosis, and mig-2 and rac-2 have only subtle roles in this process. Rac activators are also used differentially. The UNC-73 Trio Rac GTP exchange factor affected all Rac pathways in axon pathfinding and cell migration but did not affect cell-corpse phagocytosis. CED-5 DOCK180, which acts with CED-10 Rac in cell-corpse phagocytosis, acted with MIG-2 but not CED-10 in axon pathfinding. Thus, distinct regulatory proteins modulate Rac activation and function in different developmental processes.

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