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Programmed cell-death (or PCD) is death of a cell in any form, mediated by an intracellular program.〔 〕 PCD is carried out in a regulated process, which usually confers advantage during an organism's life-cycle. For example, the differentiation of fingers and toes in a developing human embryo occurs because cells between the fingers apoptose; the result is that the digits are separate. PCD serves fundamental functions during both plant and metazoa (multicellular animals) tissue development. Apoptosis and autophagy are both forms of programmed cell death, but necrosis is a non-physiological process that occurs as a result of infection or injury. Necrosis is the death of a cell caused by external factors such as trauma or infection and occurs in several different forms. Recently a form of programmed necrosis, called necroptosis, has been recognized as an alternate form of programmed cell death. It is hypothesized that necroptosis can serve as a cell-death backup to apoptosis when the apoptosis signaling is blocked by endogenous or exogenous factors such as viruses or mutations. ==History== The concept of "programmed cell-death" was used by Lockshin & Williams〔 〕 in 1964 in relation to insect tissue development, around eight years before "apoptosis" was coined. Since then, PCD has become the more general of these two terms. The first insight into the mechanism came from studying BCL2, the product of a putative oncogene activated by chromosome translocations often found in follicular lymphoma. Unlike other cancer genes, which promote cancer by stimulating cell proliferation, BCL2 promoted cancer by stopping lymphoma cells from being able to kill themselves. PCD has been the subject of increasing attention and research efforts. This trend has been highlighted with the award of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Sydney Brenner (United Kingdom), H. Robert Horvitz (US) and John E. Sulston (UK).〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「programmed cell death」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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