FIND ARTICLE

APOPTOSIS AND AUTOPHAGY - MECHANISMS AND DETECTION METHODS

For a long time apoptosis has been considered the only type of programmed cell death responsible for the maintenance of homeostasis in the organism. However, the results of studies, which have been carried out for the last years, prove that depending on its type, the cell can be guided in different directions, which can result either in its survival or death. According to the NCCD Committee, apoptosis and autophagy are ranked as two types of cell death.

AUTOPHAGY IN VIRAL AND BACTERIAL INFECTIONS: MOLECULAR ROULETTE

Activation of innate, antigen-unspecific effector immunological mechanisms in mammals pro- ceeds on different levels of molecular phenomena in an infected cell. One of such an important, although only partly recognized processes which take part in the elimination of infections caused by viruses and intracellular bacteria is autophagy. The process is activated through the above mentioned infectious agents, autophagic vacuoles sequester bacteria, and viruses delivering them to lysosomal degradation.

Autophagy the tool of cancer cell survival or death?

In the last decade a progress has been achieved in understanding the mechanisms which control the cell death. Accumulating evidence suggest that apoptosis is not the only one type of pro- grammed cell death (PCD). Cells use different pathways to active self-destruction process. There are three types of programmed cell death (PCD): condensation prominent, type I or apoptosis, dependent on the activity of caspases, type II – autophagy prominent and type III occurring through disintegration of cells into fragments without condensation and involvement of lysosomal system.

The Editorial Board
Andrzej Łukaszyk - przewodniczący, Zofia Bielańska-Osuchowska, Szczepan Biliński, Mieczysław Chorąży, Aleksander Koj, Włodzimierz Korochoda, Leszek Kuźnicki, Aleksandra Stojałowska, Lech Wojtczak

Editorial address:
Katedra i Zakład Histologii i Embriologii Uniwersytetu Medycznego w Poznaniu, ul. Święcickiego 6, 60-781 Poznań, tel. +48 61 8546453, fax. +48 61 8546440, email: mnowicki@ump.edu.pl

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