APOPTOSIS

Apoptosis is an orderly process in which the cell's contents are packaged into small packets of membrane for “garbage collection” by immune cells. Apoptosis removes cells during development, eliminates potentially cancerous and virus-infected cells, and maintains balance in the body.

Apoptosis is mediated by proteolytic enzymes called caspases, which trigger cell death by cleaving specific proteins in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Caspases exist in all cells as inactive precursors, or procaspases, which are usually activated by cleavage by other caspases, producing a proteolytic caspase cascade.

Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes and death. These changes include blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, chromosomal DNA fragmentation, and global mRNA decay. 

During apoptosis, the cell shrinks and pulls away from its neighbors. Then the surface of the cell appears to boil, with fragments breaking away and escaping like bubbles from a pot of hot water. The DNA in the cell's nucleus condenses and breaks into evenly sized fragments.

The two main pathways of apoptosis are extrinsic and intrinsic as well as a perforin/granzyme pathway. Each requires specific triggering signals to begin an energy-dependent cascade of molecular events. Each pathway activates its own initiator caspase (8, 9, 10) which in turn will activate the executioner caspase-3.

The loss of apoptotic control allows cancer cells to survive longer and gives more time for the accumulation of mutations which can increase invasiveness during tumor progression, stimulate angiogenesis, deregulate cell proliferation and interfere with differentiation.

There are several spectroscopic techniques available to study apoptosis, including annexin V staining, the TUNEL assay, caspase detection, and measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential. Labeled annexin V can be applied in both flow cytometry and light microscopy to identify mid- to late-stage apoptotic cells.

In adults, apoptosis is used to rid the body of cells that have been damaged beyond repair. Apoptosis also plays a role in preventing cancer. If apoptosis is for some reason prevented, it can lead to uncontrolled cell division and the subsequent development of a tumor.

Simply washing away apoptotic inducers is sufficient to allow the majority of dying cells to survive and most hallmarks of apoptosis to vanish, indicating that reversal of apoptosis is an endogenous cellular mechanism.

Examples of Apoptosis-

• From Tadpole to Frog. A spectacular example of this is found in frog tadpoles, which destroy and re-absorb entire body structures as they undergo their transformation into frogs.
• Human Nervous System Development.
• Mouse Feet.
• Extrinsic Pathway.
• Intrinsic Pathway.

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Regards,
Nicola B
Editorial Team
Journal of  Biochemistry and Biotechnology