The Secrets of Natural Cell Death

Fesus, Laszlo

The death of cells appears to be an undesirable process, however, cell death can also occur naturally through apoptosis. Apoptosis is an essential feature of how cells function, and it plays an indispensable role during the development and life of the organism. Natural cell death provides the basis for such everyday processes as the continuous renewal of the skin. Apoptosis is a newly understood phenomenon, it was first described in the seventies; the genetic description of apoptosis was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2002.
The life or death of a cell is defined by its environment, signals leading to apoptosis arrive continuously from the environment as well as from within the cells. These will lead to actual cell death only if it is confirmed for the cell that the soundness of the organism cannot be safeguarded otherwise. The balance of natural cell death may fall both ways. Excessive cell death will lead to atrophy, such as the atrophy of the central nervous system in old age, or as in AIDS. A defect in the mechanism of apoptosis will lead to an unlimited proliferation of the given cell, a malignant tumour.

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