{"entity":{"id":"apoptosis","kind":"term","name":"Apoptosis","aka":["apoptotic","programmed cell death","cell death","pro-apoptotic","anti-apoptotic","undergo apoptosis","induce apoptosis","induces apoptosis","triggers apoptosis"],"tldr":"The cell's built-in self-destruct programme, which tidily dismantles a damaged or unwanted cell without alarming its neighbours. Cancer cells disable it by mutating TP53 or overproducing BCL-2; chemotherapy and radiation work largely by inflicting enough damage to trigger it, and venetoclax removes the BCL-2 shield directly.","summary":"Apoptosis is triggered from inside (DNA damage sensed by p53, which tips the balance of BCL-2 family proteins and releases enzymes called caspases) or from outside (death signals from immune cells). Tumours resist it by mutating TP53, overexpressing BCL-2 or MCL-1, or losing the proteins that would push them over the edge; 'resisting cell death' is one of the hallmarks of cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation work largely by inflicting enough damage to trigger apoptosis, venetoclax removes the BCL-2 shield directly, and the calm, non-inflammatory nature of apoptosis is why it does not, by itself, alert the immune system, unlike immunogenic cell death.","asOf":"2026-09-09","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoptosis","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoptosis"}],"tags":[],"related":["necrosis","resisting-cell-death","immunogenic-cell-death","tumour-suppressor-gene","ferroptosis-cell-death"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":["bcl2","tp53"],"drugs":["venetoclax"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":["apoptosis-bcl2","p53-cell-cycle"],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Biology basics"},"route":"/terms/apoptosis/","neighbours":{"term":[{"id":"cell-term","kind":"term","name":"Cell","route":"/terms/cell-term/"},{"id":"resisting-cell-death","kind":"term","name":"Hallmark: resisting cell death","route":"/terms/resisting-cell-death/"},{"id":"immunogenic-cell-death","kind":"term","name":"Immunogenic cell death","route":"/terms/immunogenic-cell-death/"},{"id":"necrosis","kind":"term","name":"Necrosis","route":"/terms/necrosis/"},{"id":"radiotherapy","kind":"term","name":"Radiotherapy","route":"/terms/radiotherapy/"},{"id":"tumour-suppressor-gene","kind":"term","name":"Tumour suppressor gene","route":"/terms/tumour-suppressor-gene/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"ferroptosis-cell-death","kind":"pathway","name":"Ferroptosis & regulated cell death","route":"/pathways/ferroptosis-cell-death/"},{"id":"apoptosis-bcl2","kind":"pathway","name":"Intrinsic apoptosis (BCL-2 family)","route":"/pathways/apoptosis-bcl2/"},{"id":"p53-cell-cycle","kind":"pathway","name":"p53 / RB / cell-cycle checkpoint","route":"/pathways/p53-cell-cycle/"}],"target":[{"id":"ada","kind":"target","name":"Adenosine deaminase (ADA)","route":"/targets/ada/"},{"id":"bcl2","kind":"target","name":"BCL-2","route":"/targets/bcl2/"},{"id":"tp53","kind":"target","name":"TP53","route":"/targets/tp53/"}],"drug":[{"id":"venetoclax","kind":"drug","name":"Venetoclax","route":"/drugs/venetoclax/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-levine-p53-gatekeeper-cell-1997","kind":"paper","name":"Levine 1997: p53, the cellular gatekeeper for growth and division","route":"/key-papers/paper-levine-p53-gatekeeper-cell-1997/"}],"journal":[{"id":"cellular-oncology","kind":"journal","name":"Cellular oncology","route":"/journals/cellular-oncology/"}]}}