Genome-wide analyses of steroid- and radiation-triggered programmed cell death in Drosophila.

Apoptosis and autophagy are two forms of programmed cell death that play important roles in the removal of unneeded and abnormal cells during animal development. While these two forms of programmed cell death are morphologically distinct, recent studies indicate that apoptotic and autophagic cell death utilize some common regulatory mechanisms. To identify genes that are associated with apoptotic and autophagic cell death, we monitored changes in gene transcription by using microarrays representing nearly the entire Drosophila genome.