A glial phagocytic receptor engulfing apoptotic neurons identified!
In vertebrates and flies, brain development relies on the removal of surplus apoptotic neurons by phagocytic glia.
In Drosophila, two glial phagocytic receptors, six-microns-under (SIMU) and Draper, mediate the phagocytosis of apoptotic neurons during embryogenesis.
The researchers describe that Santa-maria, a fly homolog of CD36, is a glial receptor for apoptotic neurons, which acts upstream of the known glial receptors SIMU and Draper during Drosophila embryogenesis.
They demonstrate that santa-maria genetically interacts with simu and draper, while the protein product binds apoptotic cells and physically interacts with the SIMU protein.
The authors show that triple knockout of genes for all three glial phagocytic receptors (i.e., simu, draper, and santa-maria) causes partial lethality.
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(24)01552-3
