The lysosomal cathepsin protease CPL-1 plays a leading role in phagosomal degradation of apoptotic cells in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: During programmed cell death, the clearance of apoptotic cells is achieved by their phagocytosis and delivery to lysosomes for destruction in engulfing cells. However, the role of lysosomal proteases in cell corpse destruction is not understood. Here we report the identification of the lysosomal cathepsin CPL-1 as an indispensable protease for apoptotic cell removal in Caenorhabditis elegans. We find that loss of cpl-1 function leads to strong accumulation of germ cell corpses, which results from a failure in degradation rather than engulfment. CPL-1 is expressed in a variety of cell types, including engulfment cells, and its mutation does not affect the maturation of cell corpse-containing phagosomes, including phagosomal recruitment of maturation effectors and phagosome acidification. Of

SUBMITTER: Xu M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4072580 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature