In Caenorhabditis elegans, several distinct apoptosis pathways have been characterized in the germline. The physiological pathway is though to eliminate excess germ cells during oogenesis to maintain gonad homeostasis and it is activated by unknown mechanisms. The DNA damage-induced germ cell apoptosis occurs in response to genotoxic agents and involves the proteins EGL-1 and CED-13, and the DNA damage response protein p53. Germ cell apoptosis can also be induced in response to pathogen infection through an EGL-1 dependent pathway. To gain insight into the mechanism and functions of germ cell apoptosis, we investigated whether and how other forms of stress induce this cell death. We found that oxidative, osmotic, heat shock and starvation stresses induce germ cell apoptosis through a p53 and EGL-1 independent pathway. We also learned that the MAPK kinases MEK-1 and SEK-1, and the p53 antagonist protein ABL-1, are essential for stress-induced germ cell apoptosis. We conclude that in C. elegans responses to various stresses that do not involve genotoxicity include an increase in germ cell apoptosis through the physiological pathway.

中文翻译：

---

通过秀丽隐杆线虫的p53独立途径应激诱导的生殖细胞凋亡。

在秀丽隐杆线虫中，已经在种系中鉴定了几种不同的凋亡途径。生理途径虽然是在卵子发生过程中消除多余的生殖细胞以维持性腺的稳态，但它是由未知机制激活的。DNA损伤诱导的生殖细胞凋亡发生于遗传毒性剂的反应，涉及蛋白质EGL-1和CED-13，以及DNA损伤应答蛋白p53。还可以通过EGL-1依赖性途径响应病原体感染而诱导生殖细胞凋亡。为了深入了解生殖细胞凋亡的机制和功能，我们调查了其他形式的应激是否以及如何诱导这种细胞死亡。我们发现氧化，渗透，热休克和饥饿压力通过p53和EGL-1独立途径诱导生殖细胞凋亡。我们还了解到，MAPK激酶MEK-1和SEK-1，以及p53拮抗剂蛋白ABL-1，对于应激诱导的生殖细胞凋亡至关重要。我们得出的结论是，秀丽隐杆线虫对不涉及基因毒性的各种胁迫的反应包括通过生理途径的生殖细胞凋亡的增加。