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Autophagic Punctum

Larval midgut destruction in Drosophila: Not dependent on caspases but suppressed by the loss of autophagy

Donna Denton, Bhupendra Shravage, Rachel Simin, Eric H. Baehrecke and Sharad Kumar

While most programmed cell death (PCD) in animal development is reliant upon the caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway and subsequent cleavage of caspase substrates, we found that PCD in Drosophila larval midgut occurs normally in the absence of the main components of the apoptotic machinery. However, when some of the components of the autophagic machinery were disrupted, midgut destruction was severely delayed. These studies demonstrate that Drosophila midgut PCD is executed by a novel mechanism where caspases are apparently dispensable, but that requires autophagy.

Punctum to: Denton D, Shravage B, Simin R, Mills K, Berry DL, Baehrecke EH, Kumar S. Autophagy, not apoptosis, is essential for midgut cell death in Drosophila. Curr Biol 2009; 19:1741–6; PMID: 19818615; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.08.042.

Authors

Donna Denton

Department of Haematology; Centre for Cancer Biology; SA Pathology; Adelaide, Australia

Bhupendra Shravage

Department of Cancer Biology; University of Massachusetts Medical School; Worcester, MA USA

Rachel Simin

Department of Cancer Biology; University of Massachusetts Medical School; Worcester, MA USA

Eric H. Baehrecke

Department of Cancer Biology; University of Massachusetts Medical School; Worcester, MA USA

Sharad Kumar Corresponding author: Sharad.kumar@health.sa.gov.au

Department of Haematology; Centre for Cancer Biology; SA Pathology; Adelaide, Australia