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Are there specific enzymes that are made for cellular apoptosis? Is cellular apoptosis the result of "normal" doing something they were not normally supposed to do? Does death create an environment whereby "normal" enzymes & other cellular materials function differently than in life? If not what genes code for the process of cellular apoptosis? Why would they have been evolved? What advantage would these genes have to the furtherance of the species?

2007-07-22 08:07:56 · 4 answers · asked by Quantum Satis 1 in Science & Mathematics Biology

4 answers

Cellular apoptosis, or controlled cell death, prevents multi-cellular organisms from acquiring certain kinds of cancer. When certain genes mutate, another gene codes for a protein that detects it, then destroys the cell.

Also, natural T cells induce apoptosis in cells that have been infected by viruses, or otherwise damaged.

This process only arose once genuine multi-tissue life arose. By eliminating cells that would be useless or dangerous, the organism strengthens itself and improves its chances of survival.

2007-07-22 08:13:42 · answer #1 · answered by morph_888 4 · 0 0

Oh, yes. There are all different kinds of enzymes that function in apoptosis. Most of them do have alternate functions, but there are many. Cytochrome C, Granzymes, so on, etc. Mitochondrially-induced apoptosis is a fascinating process.

The ultimate 'point' of apoptosis is to dispose of an old, damaged or otherwise non-productive cell in a way that doesn't allow it's components (which contain things like proteolytic enzymes and reactive oxygen species) from damaging other cells or tissues nearby by neatly packaging all this up and destroying it.

However - sometimes cells don't get the apoptotic signal, or are otherwise killed in a way that won't activate the apoptotic pathway. This is called 'necrosis'. In this case, those nice apoptotic enzymes and proteins that tell the cell to package itself up don't work, and it usually just bursts open - this releases all that nasty stuff (R-OX, etc). This stuff can damage other cells and cause -them- to become necrotic as well, and make a big nasty mess. Boo Necrosis. BOO.

2007-07-22 08:44:43 · answer #2 · answered by B U 2 · 1 0

The fact that there are several pathways and numerous proteins/factors to apoptosis e.g through death receptors,proteolytic, mitochondrial etc. shows that this is an important cell function. Examples: cell cytotoxicity-immune cells (NK and cytotoxic Tcells), old/damaged cells may undergo apoptosis (significance here is that necrosis [another form of cell death], unlike apoptosis is usually followed by inflammation).
One sure species advantage is apoptosis after failure to DNA repair. Proteins such as p53 try to induce cell cycle arrest after DNA damage eg. by UV to allow time for DNA repair mechanisms to fix damage. If DNA repair fails, p53 can also initiate apoptosis of this cell through mitochodrial pathway. Imagine what would happen if unrepaired DNA after mutation event are allowed to be replicated!

2007-07-22 10:25:37 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Cellular apoptosis (cellular suicide) is a built-in function that has existed for billions of years. Scientists are not sure why a cell would evolve such a function.

In fact, the question of why organisms evolved a mechanism to grow old and die (increased cellular suicide rate) is one of the most outstanding unanswered questions in biology today.

2007-07-22 08:13:02 · answer #4 · answered by lithiumdeuteride 7 · 0 1

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