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Review
. 2020 Feb 26:9:F1000 Faculty Rev-148.
doi: 10.12688/f1000research.21571.1. eCollection 2020.

The essentials of developmental apoptosis

Anne K Voss  1   2 , Andreas Strasser  1   2
Affiliations
Review

The essentials of developmental apoptosis

Anne K Voss et al. F1000Res. .

Abstract

Apoptotic cells are commonly observed in a broad range of tissues during mammalian embryonic and fetal development. Specific requirements and functions of programmed cell death were inferred from early observations. These inferences did not hold up to functional proof for a requirement of apoptosis for normal tissue development in all cases. In this review, we summarize how the appraisal of the importance of developmental apoptosis has changed over the years, in particular with detailed functional assessment, such as by using gene-targeted mice lacking essential initiators or mediators of apoptosis. In recent years, the essentials of developmental apoptosis have emerged. We hypothesize that apoptosis is predominantly required to balance cell proliferation. The two interdependent processes-cell proliferation and apoptosis-together more powerfully regulate tissue growth than does each process alone. We proposed that this ensures that tissues and cell populations attain the appropriate size that allows fusion in the body midline and retain the size of cavities once formed. In addition, a limited number of tissues, albeit not all previously proposed, rely on apoptosis for remodeling, chiefly aortic arch remodeling, elimination of supernumerary neurons, removal of vaginal septa, and removal of interdigital webs in the formation of hands and feet.

Keywords: A1; APAF-1; BAD; BAK; BAX; BCL-2; BCL-W; BCL-XL; BID; BIK; BIM; BMF; BOK; Embryo; HRK; MCL-1; NOXA; PUMA; apoptosis; caspases; development; fetus; programmed cell death.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing interests were disclosed.No competing interests were disclosed.No competing interests were disclosed.No competing interests were disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. The morphological distinction of apoptosis and necrosis.
Schematic drawing and major characteristics. EM, electron microscopy.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Simplified schematic drawing of the mitochondrial and death receptor apoptotic pathways.
MOMP, mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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