{"id":179047,"date":"2025-06-12T18:38:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T18:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/179047\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T18:38:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T18:38:19","slug":"stress-genes-guide-cell-cleanup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/179047\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress Genes Guide Cell Cleanup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Summary: <\/strong>New research has uncovered how the body clears dying cells during times of stress, shedding light on the unexpected role of classic stress-response genes. Using the model organism C. elegans, scientists tracked how these genes activate a pathway that helps remove cellular debris, a process essential for immune health and development.<\/p>\n<p>Live imaging and CRISPR techniques allowed researchers to observe this stress-cell clearance machinery in real time. These findings could provide new insight into diseases like Chediak-Higashi Syndrome, where the body fails to clean up dead cells effectively.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Stress-Cleanup Link:<\/strong> Classic stress-response genes activate a pathway that clears dying cells.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Live Imaging Used:<\/strong> Researchers used real-time imaging in C. elegans to visualize cellular cleanup during stress.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Human Relevance:<\/strong> The key gene identified is related to a human gene (LYST) involved in immune disorders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong>UT Arlington<\/p>\n<p><strong>A new study from The University of Texas at Arlington details a novel strategy for how the body clears out dead cells during stress, revealing unexpected roles for well-known stress-response genes\u2014a discovery that could help scientists better understand diseases affecting the immune system, brain and metabolism.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe body is constantly creating new cells and removing old cells once they die,\u201d said Aladin Elkhalil, lead author of the study and a third-year doctoral student in the\u00a0lab of Piya Ghose, assistant professor of biology at UT Arlington.<\/p>\n<p>  <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"799\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/stress-cells-neurosciecnce.jpg\" alt=\"This shows cells.\"  \/> The research team took advantage of these unique features in several innovative ways. Credit: Neuroscience News<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis removal of dead cells is just as important as creating new ones, because if the body is unable to rid itself of dead cells, it can lead to various health problems\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Published in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal\u00a0PLoS Genetics,\u00a0the study was conducted on the roundworm C. elegans by Dr. Ghose, Elkhalil and Alec Whited, another graduate student in the Ghose lab.<\/p>\n<p>This tiny, transparent organism is a widely used tool in genetic research because its see-through body allows scientists to observe live cell behavior, including how cells die. The research team took advantage of these unique features in several innovative ways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has been an exciting study, where stress meets cell behavior,\u201d said Ghose. \u201cIt\u2019s fascinating to see how our cells adapt to changes in their surroundings and still perform their normal functions. Understanding that process is essential to our normal physiology and development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The team examined stress-response genes\u2014many of which have human counterparts\u2014in a new context: how they help remove dying cells. Using tools like CRISPR\/Cas9 gene-editing technology, they manipulated these genes to identify a specific stress-response pathway that activates to help in the removal of dying cells.<\/p>\n<p>Using state-of-the-art live imaging, the researchers were able to characterize this stress-response pathway by observing key components of the cell clearance machinery in action. This allowed them to see when and how stress-related and clearance genes are switched on during the removal process.<\/p>\n<p>A key gene was identified: The human version, known as\u00a0lyst, is linked to Chediak-Higashi Syndrome, a rare disorder in which cells struggle clearing out debris, leading to immune system problems.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the novel findings in our study is that the worm version of this gene is controlled by classical stress-response genes, which was previously unknown,\u201d Elkhalil said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn intriguing question is why this pathway needs to be in place at all. That leaves us with an exciting avenue for future research.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Funding: <\/strong>This work was supported by The Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) (RR100091) and the National Institutes of Health\u2013National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R35GM142489).<\/p>\n<p>About this genetics and neuroscience research news<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Author: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#acc7cdd8c4c9dec5c2c982cec9c2c2c9d8d8ecd9d8cd82c9c8d9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Katherine Bennett<\/a><br \/><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/uta.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UT Arlington<\/a><br \/><strong>Contact: <\/strong>Katherine Bennett \u2013 UT Arlington<br \/><strong>Image: <\/strong>The image is credited to Neuroscience News<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Original Research: <\/strong>Open access.<br \/>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgen.1011696\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SQST-1\/p62-regulated SKN-1\/Nrf mediates a phagocytic stress response via transcriptional activation of lyst-1\/LYST<\/a>\u201d by Piya Ghose et al. PLOS Genetics<\/p>\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SQST-1\/p62-regulated SKN-1\/Nrf mediates a phagocytic stress response via transcriptional activation of lyst-1\/LYST<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cells may be intrinsically fated to die to sculpt tissues during development or to maintain homeostasis. Cells can also die in response to various stressors, injury or pathological conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, cells of the metazoan body are often highly specialized with distinct domains that differ both structurally and with respect to their neighbors. Specialized cells can also die, as in normal brain development or pathological states and their different regions may be eliminated via different programs.<\/p>\n<p>Clearance of different types of cell debris must be performed quickly and efficiently to prevent autoimmunity and secondary necrosis of neighboring cells. Moreover, all cells, including those programmed to die, may be subject to various stressors.<\/p>\n<p>Some largely unexplored questions include whether predestined cell elimination during development could be altered by stress, if adaptive stress responses exist and if polarized cells may need compartment-specific stress-adaptive programs.<\/p>\n<p>We leveraged Compartmentalized Cell Elimination (CCE) in the nematode\u00a0C. elegans\u00a0to explore these questions. CCE is a developmental cell death program whereby three segments of two embryonic polarized cell types are eliminated differently.<\/p>\n<p>We have previously employed this\u00a0in vivo\u00a0genetic system to uncover a cell compartment-specific, cell non-autonomous clearance function of the fusogen EFF-1 in phagosome closure during corpse internalization.<\/p>\n<p>Here, we introduce an adaptive response that serves to aid developmental phagocytosis as a part of CCE during stress.<\/p>\n<p>We employ a combination of forward and reverse genetics, CRISPR\/Cas9 gene editing, stress response assays and advanced fluorescence microscopy.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, we report that, under heat stress, the selective autophagy receptor SQST-1\/p62 promotes the nuclear translocation of the oxidative stress-related transcription factor SKN-1\/Nrf via negative regulation of WDR-23.<\/p>\n<p>This in turn allows SKN-1\/Nrf to transcribe\u00a0lyst-1\/LYST (lysosomal trafficking associated gene) which subsequently promotes the phagocytic resolution of the developmentally-killed internalized cell even under stress conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary: New research has uncovered how the body clears dying cells during times of stress, shedding light on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[215,40455,267,218,219,220,222,70,4920,16,15,73754],"class_list":{"0":"post-179047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-brain-research","9":"tag-cortisol","10":"tag-genetics","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-neurobiology","13":"tag-neuroscience","14":"tag-psychology","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-stress","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-ut-arlington"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114671852158127999","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}