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1: Cell. 1993 Nov 19;75(4):641-52.Click here to read Links
Comment in:
Cell. 2004 Jan 23;116(2 Suppl):S53-6, 1 p following S59.

The C. elegans cell death gene ced-3 encodes a protein similar to mammalian interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme.

Yuan J, Shaham S, Ledoux S, Ellis HM, Horvitz HR.

Program of Neurosciences, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.

We have cloned the C. elegans cell death gene ced-3. A ced-3 transcript is most abundant during embryogenesis, the stage during which most programmed cell deaths occur. The predicted CED-3 protein shows similarity to human and murine interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme and to the product of the mouse nedd-2 gene, which is expressed in the embryonic brain. The sequences of 12 ced-3 mutations as well as the sequences of ced-3 genes from two related nematode species identify sites of potential functional importance. We propose that the CED-3 protein acts as a cysteine protease in the initiation of programmed cell death in C. elegans and that cysteine proteases also function in programmed cell death in mammals.

PMID: 8242740 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]