Caenorhabditis elegans transthyretin-like protein TTR-52 mediates recognition of apoptotic cells by
Author: ["Xiaochen Wang","Weida Li","Dongfeng Zhao","Bin Liu","Yong Shi","Baohui Chen","Hengwen Yang","Pengfei Guo","Xin Geng","Zhihong Shang","Erin Peden","Eriko Kage-Nakadai","Shohei Mitani","Ding Xue"]
Publication: Nature Cell Biology
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Abstract
Recognition of apoptotic cells by phagocytes is not fully understood. In C. elegans, the transthyretin-like protein, TTR-52, is secreted by the endoderm and clusters around apoptotic cells, inducing their engulfment through the CED-1/6/7 pathway. During apoptosis, dying cells are swiftly removed by phagocytes. It is not fully understood how apoptotic cells are recognized by phagocytes. Here we report the identification and characterization of the Caenorhabditis elegans ttr-52 gene, which encodes a transthyretin-like protein and is required for efficient cell corpse engulfment. The TTR-52 protein is expressed in, and secreted from, C. elegans endoderm and clusters around apoptotic cells. Genetic analysis indicates that TTR-52 acts in the cell corpse engulfment pathway mediated by CED-1, CED-6 and CED-7 and affects clustering of the phagocyte receptor CED-1 around apoptotic cells. TTR-52 recognizes surface-exposed phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) in vivo and binds to both PtdSer and the extracellular domain of CED-1 in vitro. TTR-52 is therefore the first bridging molecule identified in C. elegans that mediates recognition of apoptotic cells by crosslinking the PtdSer 'eat me' signal with the phagocyte receptor CED-1.
Cite this article
Wang, X., Li, W., Zhao, D. et al. Caenorhabditis elegans transthyretin-like protein TTR-52 mediates recognition of apoptotic cells by the CED-1 phagocyte receptor. Nat Cell Biol 12, 655–664 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb2068
