Apoptosis or programmed cell death?

Abstract

Although there are different ways in which cells may die, it is now thought that in a developmental context cells are induced to positively commit suicide whilst in a homeostatic context the absence of certain survival factors may provide the impetus for suicide. There appears to be some variation in the morphology and indeed the biochemistry of these suicide pathways; some treading the path of "apoptosis", others following a more generalized pathway to deletion, but both usually being genetically and synthetically motivated. There is some evidence that certain symptoms of "apoptosis" such as endonuclease activation can be spuriously induced without engaging a genetic cascade, however, presumably true apoptosis and programmed cell death must be genetically mediated. It is also becoming clear that mitosis and apoptosis are toggled or linked in some way and that the balance achieved depends on signals received from appropriate growth or survival factors.

Morpho-ultrastructural alterations in the salivary glands of semi-engorged Riphicephalus sanguineus s.l. females subjected to permethrin

“…The nuclear and nucleolar alterations observed in the treatment groups (206 ppm, 1031 ppm and 2062 ppm of permethrin) corroborate Kerr et al [31], who reported nuclear alterations in apoptotic cells, including fragmentation and enlargement of the nucleus, chromatin marginalization and fragmentation of the nucleolus, resulting from the biochemical and morphological alterations in the nucleus during apoptosis [29,[32][33][34][35][36]. Thus, considering the similarities between the nuclear [18] and nucleolar alterations found in this study, it can be inferred that the salivary glands of semi-engorged R. sanguineus s. l. females subjected to different concentrations of permethrin would also be undergoing the process described by Kerr et al [31]; i.e., apoptotic death.…”

Subtypes of active cell death in the granulosa of ovarian atretic follicles in the quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

“…In a landmark paper, Schweichel and Merker (1973) described three different types of active cell death in embryonic tissues: apoptosis, autophagic cell death and, finally, nonlysosomal disintegration. Recent reports also distinguish several morphological types of programmed or active cell death and emphasize that the terms 'programmed cell death' and 'apoptosis' are not interchangeable (Lockshin and Zakeri, 1991; Bowen, 1993;Schwartz et al, 1993;Bursch and Grasl-Kraupp, 1994;Majno and Joris, 1995). Recently a monoclonal antibody BV 2 was isolated which recognizes an antigen expressed during avian programmed cell death in both apoptotic and certain necrotic cells, indicating that these cell-death patterns may share similar biochemical features (Fernandez et al, 1994).…”

Genetic analysis of poliovirus protein 3A: characterization of a non-cytopathic mutant virus defective in killing Vero cells.

“…Apoptosis has also been proven as a major cause of cytopathogenicity in some virus systems (Jeurissen et al, 1992 ;Laurent-Crawford et al, 1993 ;Levine et al, 1993 ;Hinshaw et al, 1994 ;Esolen et al, 1995). In addition, enhancement of cytosolic calcium can trigger the apoptotic response (Bowen, 1993). We are currently testing whether poliovirus infection induces apoptosis in Vero cells.…”