ApoReview-Introduction to Apoptosis:Page 5 of 26 "Budding" Necrosis otic shrinking,ch is dis 4. Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis signalling pathways This paragraph is meant to provide a general overview of basic apoptotic signalling pathways and of the molecular machinery responsible for the induction and execution of apoptosis.The most important signalling molecules and cellular structures will be discussed in conext of their function and of the mechanisms in which they are involved in the initiation,mediation,execution,and regulation of apoptosis.This chapter should give an impression of the sophisticated interplay between factors that promote or suppress apoptosis,resulting in a complicated regulatory network which determines the fate of an individual cell as part of its multicellular environment(Fig.6). 4.1 Various death signals activate common signalling pathways Apoptosis is a tightly regulated and at the same time highly efficient cell death program which requires the interplay of a multitude of factors.The components of the apoptotic signalling networkApoReview - Introduction to Apoptosis: Page 5 of 26 Fig. 2 Hallmarks of the apoptotic and necrotic cell death process. Apoptosis includes cellular shrinking, chromatin condensation and margination at the nuclear periphery with the eventual formation of membrane-bound apoptotic bodies that contain organelles, cytosol and nuclear fragments and are phagocytosed without triggering inflammatory processes.The necrotic cell swells, becomes leaky and finally is disrupted and releases its contents into the surrounding tissue resulting in inflammation. Modified from [Van Cruchten, 2002]. 4. Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis signalling pathways This paragraph is meant to provide a general overview of basic apoptotic signalling pathways and of the molecular machinery responsible for the induction and execution of apoptosis. The most important signalling molecules and cellular structures will be discussed in context of their function and of the mechanisms in which they are involved in the initiation, mediation, execution, and regulation of apoptosis. This chapter should give an impression of the sophisticated interplay between factors that promote or suppress apoptosis, resulting in a complicated regulatory network which determines the fate of an individual cell as part of its multicellular environment (Fig. 6). 4.1 Various death signals activate common signalling pathways Apoptosis is a tightly regulated and at the same time highly efficient cell death program which requires the interplay of a multitude of factors. The components of the apoptotic signalling network