Mechanisms of steroid-triggered programmed cell death in Drosophila

Studies in Drosophila have provided a detailed understanding of how programmed cell death is regulated by steroid hormones during development. This work has defined a two-step hormone-triggered regulatory cascade that results in the coordinate induction of central players in the death pathway, including the reaper and hid death activators, the Apaf-1 ortholog dark, and the dronc apical caspase gene. Recent transcriptional profiling studies have identified many new players in this pathway. In addition, genetic studies are providing new insights into the control of autophagic cell death and revealing how this response is related to, but distinct from, apoptosis.