Evolutionary conservation of a genetic pathway of programmed cell death

Abstract

Genetic analysis of programmed cell death in Caenorhabditis elegans has led to the identification of 13 genes that constitute a developmental pathway of programmed cell death. Two of the three key genes in this pathway, ced‐9, a cell death suppressor, and ced‐3, a cell death inducer, were found to encode proteins that share structural and functional similarities with the mammalian proto‐oncogene product Bcl‐2 and interleukin‐1β converting enzyme, respectively. These results suggest that the genetic pathway of programmed cell death may be evolutionarily conserved from worms to mammals.