Our aim is to critically review current knowledge of the function and regulation of cell death in the developing limb. We provide a detailed, but short, overview of the areas of cell death observed in the developing limb, establishing their function in morphogenesis and structural development of limb tissues. We will examine the functions of this process in the formation and growth of the limb primordia, formation of cartilaginous skeleton, formation of synovial joints, and establishment of muscle bellies, tendons, and entheses. We will analyze the plasticity of the cell death program by focusing on the developmental potential of progenitors prior to death. Considering the prolonged plasticity of progenitors to escape from the death process, we will discuss a new biological perspective that explains cell death: this process, rather than secondary to a specific genetic program, is a consequence of the tissue building strategy employed by the embryo based on the formation of scaffolds that disintegrate once their associated neighboring structures differentiate.

中文翻译：

---

脊椎动物肢体发育中的细胞死亡：促进肌肉骨骼组织形态发生和分化的局部调节机制

我们的目标是批判性地回顾当前关于发育中肢体细胞死亡的功能和调节的知识。我们对发育中肢体中观察到的细胞死亡区域进行了详细但简短的概述，确定了它们在肢体组织的形态发生和结构发育中的功能。我们将检查这个过程在肢体原基的形成和生长、软骨骨架的形成、滑膜关节的形成以及肌腹、肌腱和肌腱的形成中的功能。我们将通过关注死亡前祖细胞的发育潜力来分析细胞死亡程序的可塑性。考虑到祖细胞从死亡过程中逃脱的长期可塑性，我们将讨论一个解释细胞死亡的新生物学观点：这个过程，