Apoptosis gets rid of abnormal or unneeded cells in the body although it can be blocked by cancer.
A simple example of apoptosis is eliminating unwanted cells between the fingers of a developing hand.
In adults, apoptosis is used to rid the body of cells that have been damaged beyond repair.
Not only that but apoptosis also has a role in preventing cancer.
Apoptosis is the death of cells which occurs as a normal and controlled part of an organism's growth or development.
Apoptosis is used during early development to eliminate unwanted cells.
For example, those between the fingers of a developing hand.
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.
Apoptosis describes the orchestrated collapse of a cell characterized by membrane blebbing, cell shrinkage, condensation of chromatin, and fragmentation of DNA followed by rapid engulfment of the corpse by neighboring cells.
Some examples of apoptosis during normal development include the loss of a tadpole's tail as it turns into a frog, and the removal of unneeded neurons in as neural circuits in the brain are “wired.”
Apoptosis is involved in normal tissue formation such as when the spaces between your fingers are created in utero or as a defense mechanism in cancers and infections.
Unchecked, however, apoptosis can cause great harm as in some neurodegenerative diseases, like multiple sclerosis.
By contrast, a cell that undergoes apoptosis dies neatly, without damaging its neighbors.
The cell shrinks and condenses.
The cytoskeleton collapses, the nuclear envelope disassembles, and the nuclear DNA breaks up into fragments.
Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and Parkinson's disease are all characterized by excessive apoptosis of neurons.
For example, Alzheimer's disease is caused by accumulation of b-amyloids at lesion sites where b-amyloids induce abnormal apoptosis of neurons.
Silent cell death, or apoptosis, is described as silent because these cells die without causing an inflammatory reaction.
Apoptosis is an active process involving many proteins and switches within the cell.
It's designed to strategically eliminate cells without alarming the rest of the body.
Apoptosis can be initiated through one of two pathways.
In the intrinsic pathway the cell kills itself because it senses cell stress, while in the extrinsic pathway the cell kills itself because of signals from other cells.
Weak external signals may also activate the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis.
Cells undergoing apoptosis shrink and fragment into pieces, called apoptotic bodies, that are cleared by neighboring cells or immune cells through phagocytosis.
Neuronal apoptosis represents an intrinsic suicide program by which a neuron orchestrates its own destruction.
During normal nervous system development, physiologically appropriate neuronal loss contributes to a sculpting process that removes approximately one-half of all neurons born during neurogenesis.