Programmed+Cell+Death

__**Programmed Cell Death: Apoptosis**__

The topic of Programmed cell death is a very important topic to the study of cell physiology. Programmed cell death, apoptosis happens regularly in the human body. Cells dying by apoptosis undergo several changes such as shrinking and condensing, the collapse of the cytoskeleton, and the disablement of the nuclear envelope.

Programmed cell death happens for a number of reasons. One main function of apoptosis is that the structure the cells from, are no longer needed. Programmed cell death can also help regulate cell numbers. There are two scenarios in which apoptosis seriously affects an individual and can lead to things like cancer and tumors. Excessive apoptosis is when there are an excessive number of cells that go through programmed cell death. This in many cases can contribute to tissue damage with can lead to heart attacks or strokes. During excessive apoptosis, many of the cells die by necrosis as a result of the deficient blood supply. On the other end of the spectrum, insufficient apoptosis is where too few cells die by apoptosis. Insufficient apoptosis can lead to autoimmune disease in many cases due to the accumulation of the cells in the lymphoglands. Decreased apoptosis plays a huge role in tumor formations because cancer cells usually regulate the apoptotic program abnormally. Cancer is specifically associated with programmed cell death. In order for a cell to be cancerous, it needs to invade and colonize territories normally reserved for other cells, and reproduce abnormally on cell growth and cell division. There have been recent research articles that further research the topic of programmed cell death. The article titled //Programmed cell death in bacteria and implications for antibiotic therapy// is about the authors testing the exact role of programmed cell death in pathogenesis. They also looked into programmed cell death as a potential drug target for antibacterial therapy. This particular study can be important in understating the complete capacity at which programmed cell death can be explored. And it will allow us to weigh different options for using cell death as a treatment option. The second paper that related to programmed cell death that I reviewed was, //Necroptosis: An emerging form of programmed cell death//. This paper discussed a new form of necrosis that is called necroptosis. Necroptosis is mainly a feature of necrosis that is inhibited by necrostatins. This can be an important area of programmed cell death to study because studies have show that necroptosis contributes to the regulation of the immune system and cancer development. Learning about this signaling pathway can help us find out the potential pathological significance of this specific feature. The third and final paper that related to programmed cell death was //Apoptosis: Programmed cell death at a molecular level//. This paper showed that ” Balanced apoptosis is crucial in development and homeostasis, and all multicellular organisms have a physiologically programmed continuum of pathways to apoptotic cell death.” (Shultz, 2003) Better understanding of apoptosis at the cellular level can allow us to fully learn its affects on autoimmune diseases and neurodegenerative disorders.

__Bibliography for Question #3:__


 * http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040842811001958


 * http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049017202701133


 * http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966842X13000620