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The egl-1 gene of Caenorhabditis elegans encodes a polypeptide that interacts with the gene product of ced-9, a gene that protects against apoptosis. Gain-of-function mutation of egl-1 induces apoptosis in hermaphrodite-specific-neurons through programmed cell death. It is postulated that the gene product of egl-1 directly interacts with CED-9 to inhibit its activity with the subsequent release of a cell death activator complexed with it.