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Apoptosis, Cell Signaling, and Human Diseases: Molecular Mechanisms
Edited by Rakesh Srivastava, 384 pp, $145.
Totowa, NJ, Humana Press Inc, 2006.
ISBN-13 978-1-5882-9677-1.
JAMA. 2007;298(18):2203-2204.
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Apoptosis (Greek apo, meaning from; ptosis, meaning falling; and thus apoptosis, leaves falling from tree) is a bioprocess by which cells deliberately commit suicide in a multicellular organism. Apoptosis, characterized by cell shrinkage, cytoconcentration, and DNA fragmentation, plays a crucial role in organism development and cellular homeostasis and, importantly, in cellular protection against cancer development. Each day approximately 70 billion cells undergo apoptosis in the human adult. This apoptotic process orchestrates a series of signaling cascade events that are tightly regulated. Excessive and insufficient apoptosis can, respectively, cause hypotrophy and uncontrolled cell proliferation as identified in cancer. Since the early 1990s, the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis have been extensively studied and our knowledge of apoptosis has dramatically increased, especially with the emergence of new technologies. However, the path toward efficiently inducing apoptosis in cancer cells still faces unexpected challenges. In Apoptosis, Cell Signaling, and Human Diseases: Molecular . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Anyou Wang, PhD, Reviewer;
Deborah Dean, MD, MPH, Reviewer
Center for Immunobiology and Vaccine Development
Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute
Oakland, California
ddean@chori.org
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