Programmed cell death or apoptosis is centrally involved in the pathogenesis of many significant human illnesses and injury states, including cancer, autoimmune disease, psoriasis, and other degenerative conditions. This 2005 book surveys the underlying molecular mechanisms of apoptosis, investigates its role in degenerative and other diseases, and evaluates potential therapies. List of contributors vii Preface ix 1 Apoptosis in health, disease, and therapy: overview and methodology 1(48) Eric C. LaCasse, Martin Holcik, Robert G. Korneluk, and Alex E. MacKenzie 1.1 Introduction: life cannot exist without cellular death 1(9) 1.2 Apoptosis: roles in health 10(1) 1.3 Apoptosis: roles in disease 11(6) 1.4 Therapeutic strategies targeting apoptosis 17(7) 1.5 Methods in apoptosis research 24(4) 1.6 Conclusion 28(21) 2 Developmental apoptosis in health and disease 49(26) Hyung Don Ryoo and Hermann Steller 2.1 Introduction 49(1) 2.2 Apoptosis in C. elegans 50(4) 2.3 Apoptosis in Drosophila 54(7) 2.4 Apoptosis during mammalian development 61(14) 3 Apoptosis and cancer 75(21) Erinn L. Soucie, Gerard Evan, and Linda Z. Penn 3.1 Introduction 75(1) 3.2 Defining cancer in apoptotic terms 75(2) 3.3 Molecular mechanisms of apoptotic deregulation in cancers 77(5) 3.4 Reactivating the death pathway to combat cancer 82(6) 3.5 On the horizon 88(1) 3.6 Conclusions 89(7) 4 Neuronal cell death in human neurodegenerative diseases and their animal/cell models 96(60) Lee J. Martin, Zhiping Liu, Juan Troncoso, and Donald L. Price 4.1 Introduction 96(1) 4.2 Types of cell death 96(6) 4.3 Molecular and cellular regulation of apoptosis 102(13) 4.4 Regulation of developmental PCD in the nervous system 115(1) 4.5 Cell death in human neurodegenerative diseases 115(41) 5 Apoptosis in the cardiovascular system: incidence, regulation, and therapeutic options 156(32) Martin R. Bennett 5.1 Incidence of apoptosis 156(6) 5.2 Regulation of apoptosis 162(8) 5.3 Therapeutic options for apoptosis treatment 170(4) 5.4 Outstanding questions 174(1) 5.5 Summary 175(13) 6 Cytotoxic lymphocytes, apoptosis, and autoimmunity 188(31) Pere Santamaria and R. Chris Bleackley 6.1 Introduction 188(1) 6.2 Cell-mediated cytotoxicity: kissing the offender 189(3) 6.3 TNF/TNFR family members and CTL killing without target cell engagement: looks can kill 192(2) 6.4 Apoptosis and autoimmunity 194(10) 6.5 Concluding remarks 204(15) 7 Pro- and anti-apoptotic strategies of viruses 219(27) Helmut Fickenscher, Bernhard Fleckenstein, and Armin Ensser 7.1 Introduction 219(1) 7.2 Major anti-apoptotic pathways targeted by viruses 220(8) 7.3 Specific viral strategies to induce or block apoptosis 228(6) 7.4 Conclusions 234(12) Index 246