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Asked by zeddyzac to Mariam, Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo on 16 Jun 2010 in Categories: Your Research. This question was also asked by jesslivrok, alisonkatie, bennster, alexsarah, chocolatebunnies, stephabel.
Question: how do the cells commit suicide ? and in what sort of situation would they need to ?
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Joanna Watson answered on 15 Jun 2010:
I’m sure that Mariam will be able to give you a great answer about how cells commit suicide – she knows much more about it than I do.
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Gioia Cherubini answered on 16 Jun 2010:
There are 2 situations where the cell can decide to commit suicide (apoptosis): one is when a cell is so damaged that it can’t repair itself anymore and it’s safer for that cell to kill itself than risking to spread the damage to other cells, the other is when a cell is somewhere where is not needed anymore (for example in the womb we have cells in between our fingers and those cells have to die to allow to develop proper fingers). In both cases there is a cascade of signals that is activated that would lead to degradation of DNA first and then proteins and cellular structures like membranes
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Mariam Orme answered on 16 Jun 2010:
Great question, thanks. Cells commit suicide by activating proteins called “caspases”. These go around the cell chewing up lots of other molecules to dismantle it in a controlled, orderly way. So that’s how the cell dies.
Sometimes cells need to die because they’re not necessary anymore. For example, when a human embryo is developing hands and feet, they start off being webbed, like a frog’s. Then eventually the cells between the fingers and toes commit suicide to give the final hand/foot shape.
Other times, cells die because something goes wrong inside them – like if their DNA gets damaged and they can’t repair it, the cell death program is triggered.
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