Cell-death alternative model organisms: why and which?

Abstract

Cell death is one of the fundamental aspects of cell life. It is both multi-faceted, as there are several types of cell death, and complex, involving many molecules and several pathways. Our representation of cell death is defined by the few model organisms studied so far. This representation includes caspase-dependent apoptosis and a variety of various, less well defined caspase-independent, non-apoptotic types of cell death. The use of alternative model organisms could modify this representation. In particular, it might help to reveal conserved molecules and phenomena that are less prominent in the classical model organisms. Alternative model organisms can be chosen as a function of their ability to answer some of the remaining questions in the cell-death field. The criteria for choice include, for example, their phylogenetic position, as well as some biological properties and their genetic tractability. Examples of possible alternative model organisms to study cell death include zebrafish, Hydra, Podospora, Dictyostelium and Volvox, but investigating cell death in any new model organism is likely to provide new insights.