What is apoptosis?
Apoptosis is programmed, regulated cell death. Unlike necrosis (traumatic cell death), apoptosis is a controlled process that minimizes inflammation and clears cells cleanly. The cell shrinks, fragments, and is engulfed by phagocytes.
Key Functions
- •Development — sculpting tissues (e.g., webbing between fingers)
- •Homeostasis — removing damaged, infected, or senescent cells
- •Senolytics — induce apoptosis preferentially in senescent cells
Why does Apoptosis matter?
Apoptosis matters because the body depends on orderly cell death to stay healthy. It shapes organs during development (for example, separating fingers in the embryo), removes cells with damaged DNA, and ends immune responses once an infection is cleared.
Because apoptotic cells are packaged and cleared without spilling their contents, the process usually avoids the inflammation that follows messy cell death (necrosis). Every day the adult body replaces billions of cells this way, balancing cell division with cell removal.
What happens when Apoptosis goes wrong?
When apoptosis is blocked, damaged cells can survive and multiply, which is a hallmark of cancer; many tumors disable apoptotic signals such as those controlled by the p53 protein. Too little apoptosis in immune cells can also let self-reactive cells persist, contributing to autoimmune disease.
When apoptosis is excessive, needed cells are lost. Increased neuronal cell death is involved in neurodegenerative conditions, and cell loss after a heart attack or stroke partly reflects apoptosis in stressed tissue around the injured area. Many medical therapies, including some cancer drugs, work by pushing apoptosis in the desired direction.
In ONDA Life
The Senolytic article explains how senolytic compounds trigger apoptosis in "zombie" cells.