"Apoptosis (Phase I)"

 So guys here we are in Apoptic Zone!

        In the human body, the rate of cell synthesis and cell death is balanced to maintain the mass of the body. Hence, easily we can conclude that the life of an individual is impossible without cellular death. There are 11 types of cell death are recognized till now, from which Apoptosis shares most (even more than autophagy and necrosis).

 Apoptosis

•  apoptosis word has Greek origin which means "falling away"
•  physiological cell death
•  useless, unwanted cells are eliminated
•  it is programmed cell death (PCD)
•  cell is active participant in its own demise or suicide
•  Apoptosis is important in:

              1. Embryonic development -before parturition

              2. Homeostasis maintenance -in adults

     Morphological changes during Apoptosis:

         1. Cell shrinkage

         2. Organell reduction

         3. Nuclear fragmentation

         4. Chromatin condensation

         5. Cell blebbing or changes

         6. Mitochondrial leakage

    Biochemical changes during Apoptosis:

         1. Chromosomal DNA cleavage into fragments

         2. Plasma membrane constituent change

         3. Loss of electrical potential at mitochondria

         4. Relocation of cytochrome-c

        In our recent post on social media platforms, we provide the fact that Apoptosis retardation is one of the causes of cancer, which means it has an important role in Cancer management. Along with this, there are couple of uses of apoptosis, viz ;

       1. In Embryo

            a) Digit formation (lower and upper limbs)

               *(Lack of apoptosis leads to webbed fingers i.e. Syndactyly) 

            b) Development of the nervous system.

        2. In Adults

           a) Normal cell number maintenance

           b) Tissue homeostasis

           c) Immunological tolerance

           d) Elimination of abnormal cells

      Topic: Apoptosis Phase-II

                1.Apoptosis Pathways 

                2.Apoptosis Assays.

                (*Wait for couple of hours for Phase-II)