Mitochondria, apoptosis, and the BCL-family - Apoptosis

4 important questions on Mitochondria, apoptosis, and the BCL-family - Apoptosis

What is programmed cell death or apoptosis?

  • Evolutionary conserved
  • regulated process to remove unwanted cells: trigger-decision-execution
  • Breakdown of cell: nucleus, organelles, membrane
  • Clearance of debris by surrounding tissue (macrophage)
  • Failure in apoptosis results in pathology

What is the process of apoptosis?

  1. Cells damaged, stressed or triggered by body signals, begin apoptosis
  2. Cell begins to shrink and form blebs. Proteins are activated to break down cellular components
  3. Enzymes break down the nucleus and the cell emits signals to attract macrophages
  4. Cell breaks into several smaller pieces containing the cell components and destroyed nucleus
  5. Macrophages recognise the cell parts and remove them from the body

What is the role of mitochondrion? And in cell death?

  1. Oxidative phosphorylation
    • ATP producition
  2. Cells stress responder
    • by creating pores in memebrane of the mitochondrion which leaks then Cyt C into cytosol and becomes a co-factor for apoptosis
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What are the 4 major steps in apoptosis?

  1. Caspases
  2. Death receptors (TNF, TNFR family)
  3. Bcl-2 family
    • Bcl-2 like
    • Bax/Bak like
    • BH3
  4. Mitochondria as central sensor

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