Regulation of Drosophila melanogaster pro-apoptotic gene hid.

Key decisions one makes in a lifetime include whether and how often to reproduce, what role to play in the community and, under certain conditions, whether to live or die. Similar decisions are also made at the level of cells: whether to divide, what fate to assume in the multicellular context of metazoan development and, under certain conditions, whether to live or to die. The pro-apoptotic gene hid plays an important role in the execution of cell death in Drosophila. Here, we review the various levels of control that exist to regulate Hid according to the life-or-death choice of a cell.