Prof. Eli Arama

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a regulated cell suicide process functions to eliminate unwanted or dangerous cells. Malfunction of PCD is associated with many diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Apoptosis, the most abundant form of PCD, is executed by proteases called caspases. However, activation of caspases does not always lead to PCD, and can promote a variety of non-lethal cellular processes (CDPs), whereas cell death can sometimes proceed in the absence of caspases by triggering alternative cell death pathways (ACDs). We discovered and study several developmental paradigms of CDPs and ACDs, with the aim of addressing some of the key questions in the field.