Answer to Question #197773 in Cell Biology for Noah

Question

Can you describe the characteristic of morphological features in apoptosis ?Can you describe the characteristic of morphological features in apoptosis ?

Answer 1

Apoptosis is characterized by changes in the cell membrane. Some of the characteristics of morphological features in apoptosis include;

a) Shrinkage of the cell; A drastic decrease of potassium and sodium concentration is shown to occur in apoptotic cells that exhibit a shrunken morphology.

b) Rapid phagocytosis by neighboring cells; Rapid recognition, uptake and destruction of apoptotic cells by phagocytes.

c) Activation of cysteine proateases; Cysteine have been found to induce many of the preotelytic events observed during apoptosis.

d) Fragmentation into membrane-bond apoptotic bodies; they are essential for phagocyte clearance of expired cells.