Programmed cell death


Programmed cell death sometimes referred to as cell suicide or cellular suicide is the death of a cell as a result of events inside of a cell, such as apoptosis or autophagy. PCD is carried out in a biological process, which usually confers advantage during an organism's lifecycle. For example, the differentiation of fingers and toes in a developing human embryo occurs because cells between the fingers apoptose; the result is that the digits are separate. PCD serves fundamental functions during both plant and animal tissue development.
Apoptosis and autophagy are both forms of programmed cell death. Necrosis is the death of a cell caused by external factors such as trauma or infection and occurs in several different forms. Necrosis was long seen as a non-physiological process that occurs as a result of infection or injury, but in the 2000s, a form of programmed necrosis, called necroptosis, was recognized as an alternative form of programmed cell death. It is hypothesized that necroptosis can serve as a cell-death backup to apoptosis when the apoptosis signaling is blocked by endogenous or exogenous factors such as viruses or mutations. Most recently, other types of regulated necrosis have been discovered as well, which share several signaling events with necroptosis and apoptosis.

History

The concept of "programmed cell-death" was used by Lockshin & Williams in 1964 in relation to insect tissue development, around eight years before "apoptosis" was coined. The term PCD has, however, been a source of confusion and Durand and Ramsey have developed the concept by providing mechanistic and evolutionary definitions. PCD has become the general terms that refers to all the different types of cell death that have a genetic component.
The first insight into the mechanism came from studying BCL2, the product of a putative oncogene activated by chromosome translocations often found in follicular lymphoma. Unlike other cancer genes, which promote cancer by stimulating cell proliferation, BCL2 promoted cancer by stopping lymphoma cells from being able to kill themselves.
PCD has been the subject of increasing attention and research efforts. This trend has been highlighted with the award of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz and John E. Sulston.

Types

is the process of programmed cell death that may occur in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes and death. These changes include blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation. It is now thought that -- in a developmental context -- cells are induced to positively commit suicide whilst in a homeostatic context; the absence of certain survival factors may provide the impetus for suicide. There appears to be some variation in the morphology and indeed the biochemistry of these suicide pathways; some treading the path of "apoptosis", others following a more generalized pathway to deletion, but both usually being genetically and synthetically motivated. There is some evidence that certain symptoms of "apoptosis" such as endonuclease activation can be spuriously induced without engaging a genetic cascade, however, presumably true apoptosis and programmed cell death must be genetically mediated. It is also becoming clear that mitosis and apoptosis are toggled or linked in some way and that the balance achieved depends on signals received from appropriate growth or survival factors.

Extrinsic vs. intrinsic pathways

There are two different potential pathways that may be followed when apoptosis is needed. There is the extrinsic pathway and the intrinsic pathway. Both pathways involve the use of caspases - crucial to cell death.
Extrinsic Pathway
The extrinsic pathway involves specific receptor ligand interaction. Either the FAS ligand binds to the FAS receptor or the TNF-alpha ligand can bind to the TNF receptor. In both situations there is the activation of initiator caspase. The extrinsic pathway can be activated in two ways. The first way is through fast ligand TNF-alpha binding or through a cytotoxic T-cell. The cytotoxic T-cell can attach itself to a membrane, facilitating the release of granzyme B. Granzyme B perforates the target cell membrane and in turn allows the release of perforin. Finally, perforin creates a pore in the membrane, and releases the caspases which leads to the activation of caspase 3. This initiator caspase may cause the cleaving of inactive caspase 3, causing it to become cleaved caspase 3. This is the final molecule needed to trigger cell death.
Intrinsic pathway
The intrinsic pathway is caused by cell damage such as DNA damage or UV exposure. This pathway takes place in the mitochondria and is mediated by sensors called Bcl sensors, and two proteins called BAX and BAK. These proteins are found in a majority of higher mammals as they are able to pierce the mitochondrial outer membrane -- making them an integral part of mediating cell death by apoptosis. They do this by orchestrating the formation of pores within the membrane -- essential to the release of cytochrome c. However, cytochrome c is only released if the mitochondrial membrane is compromised. Once cytochrome c is detected, the apoptosome complex is formed. This complex activates the executioner caspase which causes cell death. This killing of the cells may be essential as it prevents cellular overgrowth which can result in disease such as cancer. There are another two proteins worth mentioning that inhibit the release of cytochrome c in the mitochondria. Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl are anti-apoptotic and therefore prevent cell death. There is a potential mutation that can occur in that causes the overactivity of Bcl-2. It is the translocation between chromosomes 14 and 18. This over activity can result in the development of follicular lymphoma.

Autophagy

, often referred to as autophagy, is a catabolic process that results in the autophagosomal-lysosomal degradation of bulk cytoplasmic contents, abnormal protein aggregates, and excess or damaged organelles.
Autophagy is generally activated by conditions of nutrient deprivation but has also been associated with physiological as well as pathological processes such as development, differentiation, neurodegenerative diseases, stress, infection and cancer.

Mechanism

A critical regulator of autophagy induction is the kinase mTOR, which when activated, suppresses autophagy and when not activated promotes it. Three related serine/threonine kinases, UNC-51-like kinase -1, -2, and -3, which play a similar role as the yeast Atg1, act downstream of the mTOR complex. ULK1 and ULK2 form a large complex with the mammalian homolog of an autophagy-related gene product and the scaffold protein FIP200. Class III PI3K complex, containing hVps34, Beclin-1, p150 and Atg14-like protein or ultraviolet irradiation resistance-associated gene, is required for the induction of autophagy.
The ATG genes control the autophagosome formation through ATG12-ATG5 and LC3-II complexes. ATG12 is conjugated to ATG5 in a ubiquitin-like reaction that requires ATG7 and ATG10. The Atg12–Atg5 conjugate then interacts non-covalently with ATG16 to form a large complex. LC3/ATG8 is cleaved at its C terminus by ATG4 protease to generate the cytosolic LC3-I. LC3-I is conjugated to phosphatidylethanolamine also in a ubiquitin-like reaction that requires Atg7 and Atg3. The lipidated form of LC3, known as LC3-II, is attached to the autophagosome membrane.
Autophagy and apoptosis are connected both positively and negatively, and extensive crosstalk exists between the two. During nutrient deficiency, autophagy functions as a pro-survival mechanism, however, excessive autophagy may lead to cell death, a process morphologically distinct from apoptosis. Several pro-apoptotic signals, such as TNF, TRAIL, and FADD, also induce autophagy. Additionally, Bcl-2 inhibits Beclin-1-dependent autophagy, thereby functioning both as a pro-survival and as an anti-autophagic regulator.

Other types

Besides the above two types of PCD, other pathways have been discovered. Called "non-apoptotic programmed cell-death", these alternative routes to death are as efficient as apoptosis and can function as either backup mechanisms or the main type of PCD.
Other forms of programmed cell death include anoikis, almost identical to apoptosis except in its induction; cornification, a form of cell death exclusive to the epidermis; excitotoxicity; ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of cell death and Wallerian degeneration.
Necroptosis is a programmed form of necrosis, or inflammatory cell death. Conventionally, necrosis is associated with unprogrammed cell death resulting from cellular damage or infiltration by pathogens, in contrast to orderly, programmed cell death via apoptosis. Nemosis is another programmed form of necrosis that takes place in fibroblasts.
Eryptosis is a form of suicidal erythrocyte death.
Aponecrosis is a hybrid of apoptosis and necrosis and refers to an incomplete apoptotic process that is completed by necrosis.
NETosis is the process of cell-death generated by neutrophils, resulting in NETs.
Paraptosis is another type of nonapoptotic cell death that is mediated by MAPK through the activation of IGF-1. It's characterized by the intracellular formation of vacuoles and swelling of mitochondria.
Pyroptosis, an inflammatory type of cell death, is uniquely mediated by caspase 1, an enzyme not involved in apoptosis, in response to infection by certain microorganisms.
Plant cells undergo particular processes of PCD similar to autophagic cell death. However, some common features of PCD are highly conserved in both plants and metazoa.

Atrophic factors

An atrophic factor is a force that causes a cell to die. Only natural forces on the cell are considered to be atrophic factors, whereas, for example, agents of mechanical or chemical abuse or lysis of the cell are considered not to be atrophic factors. Common types of atrophic factors are:
  1. Decreased workload
  2. Loss of innervation
  3. Diminished blood supply
  4. Inadequate nutrition
  5. Loss of endocrine stimulation
  6. Senility
  7. Compression