Cell death plays many roles during development, in the adult, and in the genesis of many pathological states. Much of this death is apoptotic in nature and requires the activity of members of the caspase family of proteases. It is now possible uniquely in Drosophila to carry out genetic screens for genes that determine the fate-life or death-of any population of cells during development and adulthood. This, in conjunction with the ability to obtain biochemical quantities of material, has made Drosophila a useful organism for exploring the mechanisms by which apoptosis is carried out and regulated. This review summarizes our knowledge of caspase-dependent cell death in Drosophila and compares that knowledge with what is known in worms and mammals. We also discuss the significance of recent work showing that a number of key cell death activators also play nonapoptotic roles. We highlight opportunities and outstanding questions along the way.

中文翻译：

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果蝇中胱天蛋白酶依赖性细胞死亡。

细胞死亡在发育，成年以及许多病理状态的发生中起着许多作用。这种死亡中的大部分在本质上是凋亡的，并且需要蛋白酶的胱天蛋白酶家族成员的活性。现在，在果蝇中可以对基因进行遗传筛选，以确定那些在发育和成年过程中任何细胞的命运或死亡的基因。这与获得生物化学量的材料的能力相结合，使果蝇成为一种有用的生物，可用于探索进行和调控细胞凋亡的机制。这篇综述总结了我们对果蝇中胱天蛋白酶依赖性细胞死亡的认识，并将其与蠕虫和哺乳动物中已知的知识进行了比较。我们还讨论了最近工作的重要性，这些工作表明许多关键细胞死亡激活剂也起非凋亡作用。在此过程中，我们将重点介绍机会和悬而未决的问题。