Clearance of apoptotic cells by phagocytic neighbors is crucial for normal development of multicellular organisms. However, how phagocytes discriminate between healthy and dying cells remains poorly understood. We focus on glial phagocytosis of apoptotic neurons during development of theDrosophilacentral nervous system. We identified phosphatidylserine (PS) as a ligand on apoptotic cells for the phagocytic receptor Six Microns Under (SIMU) and report that PS alone is not sufficient for engulfment. Our data reveal that, additionally to PS exposure, caspase activity is required for clearance of apoptotic cells by phagocytes. Here we demonstrate that SIMU recognizes and binds PS on apoptotic cells through its N-terminal EMILIN (EMI), Nimrod 1 (NIM1), and NIM2 repeats, whereas the C-terminal NIM3 and NIM4 repeats control SIMU affinity to PS. Based on the structure-function analysis of SIMU, we discovered a novel mechanism of internal inhibition responsible for differential affinities of SIMU to its ligand which might prevent elimination of living cells exposing PS on their surfaces.

The proper removal of superfluous neurons through apoptosis and subsequent phagocytosis is essential for normal development of the central nervous system (CNS). During Drosophila embryogenesis, a large number of apoptotic neurons are efficiently engulfed and degraded by phagocytic glia. Here we demonstrate that glial proficiency to phagocytose relies on expression of phagocytic receptors for apoptotic cells, SIMU and DRPR. Moreover, we reveal that the phagocytic ability of embryonic glia is established as part of a developmental program responsible for glial cell fate determination and is not triggered by apoptosis per se. Explicitly, we provide evidence for a critical role of the major regulators of glial identity, gcm and repo, in controlling glial phagocytic function through regulation of SIMU and DRPR specific expression. Taken together, our study uncovers molecular mechanisms essential for establishment of embryonic glia as primary phagocytes during CNS development.

Glial phagocytosis of superfluous neurons and damaged or aberrant neuronal material is crucial for normal development and maintenance of the CNS. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the relationship between neuronal death and glial phagocytosis are poorly understood. We describe a novel mechanism that is able to synchronize neuronal cell death and glial phagocytosis of dying neurons in the Drosophila embryonic CNS. This mechanism involves c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling, which is required for developmental apoptosis of specific neurons during embryogenesis. We demonstrate that the dJNK pathway gain-of-function in neurons leads to dJNK signaling in glia, which results in upregulation of glial phagocytosis. Importantly, this promotion of phagocytosis is not mediated by upregulation of the glial phagocytic receptors SIMU and DRPR, but by increasing glial capacity to degrade apoptotic particles inside phagosomes. The proposed mechanism may be important for removal of damaged neurons in the developing and mature CNS.