The centrosome-centered cell-brain in apoptosis.
Apoptosis (or programmed cell death) is one of the central cellular processes in development, stress response, aging, carcinogenesis, and disease in multi-cellular eukaryotes. Although great effort has been made, the detailed mechanism through which apoptosis is initiated is yet unclear. Previously, the centrosome, or more explicitly the complex comprising the centrosome, centrioles, and connecting filaments, was reported to be required for apoptosis. It may be through this 'cell brain', reminiscent of the long known brain of animals (or humans), that complicated cellular processes, including apoptosis, are precisely coordinated. In this paper, the latest data to support this contention are scrutinized.
Kong
Q
Q
Cell Brain Research Center, Shandong University, Jinan, China. kongq@yahoo.com
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D002502:Centrioles / Q000502:physiology; D018385:Centrosome / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000502:physiology; D008938:Mitosis; D008954:Models, Biological