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Mitochondria and Apoptosis, the Stepping Stones on the Path to Death

  • Conference paper
Neuronal Death by Accident or by Design

Part of the book series: Research and Perspectives in Neurosciences ((NEUROSCIENCE))

  • 102 Accesses

Summary

Apoptosis is a form of cellular suicide that allows for the removal of damaged, infected, superfluous or otherwise questionable cells without releasing toxic cellular contents that may trigger an inflammatory response, or damage nearby cells. The active and orderly characteristics of apoptosis contrast with necrotic cell death, which is stochastic and usually pro-inflammatory. The biochemical pathways involved in apoptosis involve the activation of a family of constitutively expressed proteinases called caspases. Working backwards from the last stages of cell death toward caspase activation we can now determine which apoptotic pathways are engaged in response to particular proapoptotic stimuli. Among the beneficiaries of this newfound knowledge are those investigators working on neurodegenerative disorders that result from the apoptotic death of discrete neuronal populations. Applying current knowledge of the mechanisms of apoptosis to long-studied disorders such as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases is a bit like turning to the back of a mystery novel halfway through. If the middle chapters of that book are missing, knowing how it ends will aid greatly in reconstructing what happened, despite taking out some of the mystery. The detailed characterization of apoptosis is providing an end-point from which we can trace these disorders backwards to their causes. Insights provided by apoptosis research will speed progress and aid in the development of efficacious treatments that address the causes, rather than just the symptoms, of many neurodegenerative disorders.

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Authors
  1. D. W. Ethell
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  2. D. R. Green
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. INSERM U.382 — IBDM (CNRS — INSERM — Univ. Méditerranée), Campus de Luminy, Case 907, 13288, Marseille Cedex 09, France

    Christopher E. Henderson Ph. D.

  2. Division of Cellular Immunology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 10355 Science Center Drive, 92121, San Diego, CA, USA

    Douglas R. Green Ph. D.

  3. Institut des Neurosciences, UMR 7624, CNRS et Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 9 quai Saint Bernard, 75005, Paris, France

    Jean Mariani Ph. D.

  4. Pour la Recherche Thérapeutique, Fondation IPSEN, 24, rue Erlanger, 75781, Paris Cedex 16, France

    Yves Christen Ph. D.

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Ethell, D.W., Green, D.R. (2001). Mitochondria and Apoptosis, the Stepping Stones on the Path to Death. In: Henderson, C.E., Green, D.R., Mariani, J., Christen, Y. (eds) Neuronal Death by Accident or by Design. Research and Perspectives in Neurosciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04333-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04333-2_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-07517-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04333-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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