Apoptosis – A Brief Review

Apoptosis is now recognized as an important process in different biological systems, including embryonic development, cell turnover, and immune response against tumorigenic or virus-infected cells. Under either physiological or pathological conditions, apoptosis is mostly driven by interactions among several families of protein, i.e. caspases, Bcl-2 family proteins, and inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAP). Other proteases such as granzyme B, calpain and cathepsin have also been demonstrated to play a vital role in apoptosis occurring under certain physiological states. This review focuses on the major apoptotic signaling pathways and the intracellular components involved in this process. Recent advances in our understanding of the role of apoptosis in neurodegenerative events and the clues they provide for the design of future preventive and therapeutic modalities will also be discussed.