Regulation of Drosophila melanogaster pro-apoptotic gene hid

Abstract

Key decisions one makes in a lifetime include whether and how often to reproduce, what role to play in the community and, under certain conditions, whether to live or die. Similar decisions are also made at the level of cells: whether to divide, what fate to assume in the multicellular context of metazoan development and, under certain conditions, whether to live or to die. The pro-apoptotic gene hid plays an important role in the execution of cell death in Drosophila. Here, we review the various levels of control that exist to regulate Hid according to the life-or-death choice of a cell.

Fig. 1

A summary of mechanisms that regulate hid. Hid neutralizes Drosophila IAP to cause caspase activation and apoptosis. Multiple mechanisms regulate hid expression. We have not distinguished between direct and indirect action of activators (blue) or repressors (red) in the diagram. Regulation of mitochondrial localization and regulation of Hid where the mechanism is not understood are not depicted. See text for details and reference to the superscript on each mechanism. (Color figure online)