Cell Function
apoptosis
ap·op·to·sis [ ap-uh-toh-sis, ap-uh p ]
Subclass of:
Regulated Cell Death
Definitions related to apoptosis:
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A form of programmed cell death that begins when a cell receives internal or external signals, then proceeds through a series of characteristic stages typically including rounding-up of the cell, retraction of pseudopods, reduction of cellular volume (pyknosis), chromatin condensation, nuclear fragmentation (karyorrhexis), and plasma membrane blebbing, and ends with the death of the cell.NCI ThesaurusU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
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A process of programmed cell death in which redundant or flawed cells destroy themselves.Harvard Dictionary of Health TermsHarvard Medical Publishing, 2011
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A regulated cell death mechanism characterized by distinctive morphologic changes in the nucleus and cytoplasm, including the endonucleolytic cleavage of genomic DNA, at regularly spaced, internucleosomal sites, i.e., DNA FRAGMENTATION. It is genetically programmed and serves as a balance to mitosis in regulating the size of animal tissues and in mediating pathologic processes associated with tumor growth.NLM Medical Subject HeadingsU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
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A type of cell death in which a series of molecular steps in a cell leads to its death. This is the body's normal way of getting rid of unneeded or abnormal cells. The process of programmed cell death may be blocked in cancer cells.NCI Dictionary of Cancer TermsU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
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Active process of selective destruction of differentiated cells in multicellular organisms; important in ontogenesis, tumorigenesis, tissue turnover, lymphocyte selection and function, hormone-induced atrophy, etc.; apoptosis is a specific mechanism involving self- fragmentation of chromatin.CRISP ThesaurusNational Institutes of Health, 2006
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(apoptotic process) A programmed cell death process which begins when a cell receives an internal (e.g. DNA damage) or external signal (e.g. an extracellular death ligand), and proceeds through a series of biochemical events (signaling pathway phase) which trigger an execution phase. The execution phase is the last step of an apoptotic process, and is typically characterized by rounding-up of the cell, retraction of pseudopodes, reduction of cellular volume (pyknosis), chromatin condensation, nuclear fragmentation (karyorrhexis), plasma membrane blebbing and fragmentation of the cell into apoptotic bodies. When the execution phase is completed, the cell has died.Gene Ontology DictionaryGene Ontology Consortium, 2021
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(programmed cell death) A process which begins when a cell receives an internal or external signal and activates a series of biochemical events (signaling pathway). The process ends with the death of the cell.Gene Ontology DictionaryGene Ontology Consortium, 2021
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(programmed cell death) Physiological forms of regulated cell death that occur during growth and development and tissue turnover.NLM Medical Subject HeadingsU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
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Apoptosis, in biology, a mechanism that allows cells to self-destruct when stimulated by the appropriate trigger. Apoptosis can be triggered by mild cellular injury and by various factors internal or external to the cell; the damaged cells are then disposed of in an orderly fashion. As a...Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020
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