Mechanisms of germ cell survival and plasticity in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Animals constantly encounter environmental and physiological stressors that threaten survival and fertility. Somatic stress responses and germ cell arrest/repair mechanisms are employed to withstand such challenges. The Caenorhabditis elegans germline combats stress by initiating mitotic germ cell quiescence to preserve genome integrity, and by removing meiotic germ cells to prevent inheritance of damaged DNA or to tolerate lack of germline nutrient supply. Here, we review examples of germline recovery from distinct stressors — acute starvation and defective splicing — where quiescent mitotic germ cells resume proliferation to repopulate a germ line following apoptotic removal of meiotic germ cells. These protective mechanisms reveal the plastic nature of germline stem cells.

Conservation of oocyte development in germline cysts from Drosophila to mouse

“…One critically important role of the oocyte is to ensure that germ cells are fully restored in quality and do not retain damage that could progressively increase over multiple generations. Germ cells are well known to harbor systems that preserve their nuclear genomes ( Bergero et al, 2021 ; Cao and Pocock, 2022 ). They also utilize mechanisms that select for and preserve undamaged mitochondrial DNA ( Lieber et al, 2019 ; Chen et al, 2020 ; review Cox et al, 2021 ).…”

Caspase inhibition improves viability and efficiency of liposomal transfection

“…It has been named apoptosis, a combination of apo (off) and ptosis (falling), derived from the Greek word meaning to fall away from its appearance under a microscope. There was a group of cell populations that were lost through orderly cell death during organogenesis in living organisms, and the concept of programmed cell death was born 16 , 17 . It was found that apoptosis occurs in the process of programmed cell death, and the molecular induction mechanism of apoptosis has been elucidated 18 – 22 .…”