The curious world of apoptotic cell clearance

Phosphatidylserine receptor (PSR) is required for the engulfment of dead apoptotic cells and for normal embryonic development in zebrafish

Ding Xue   (2004-10-15 20:13)  University of Colorado

A paper was published in Development online (Development. 2004 Oct 6 [Epub ahead of print]), reporting that the PSR knockdown by a PSR morpholino oligonucleotide led to accumulation of a large number of dead apoptotic cells in whole early embryo. These unengulfed cells interfere with embryonic cell migration. In addition, normal development of the somite, brain, heart, and notochord was sequentially disrupted up to 24 hours post-fertilization. The phenotypes of the PSR knockdown in Zebrafish are quite similar to the PSR knockout phenotypes reported by Li et al. in Science. Thus in three organisms examined so far (worm, zebrafish, and mice) PSR is important for removal of apoptotic cell corpses. I think that this paper will help resolve the current controversial regarding PSR.

Competing interests

None declared

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