Apoptotic Pathway

Cancer is a major killer disease caused by uncontrolled growth and invasion of cells. Apoptosis is the cell's natural mechanism of death, which maintains tissue homeostasis. Any mutation that disturbs the apoptotic pathway leads to deregulated proliferation, resistance, and evasion of apoptosis. This evasion is one of the hallmarks of malignant developments. Apoptosis takes place via two distinct pathways i.e. the intrinsic and the extrinsic pathways. These pathways use cleaved caspases to execute apoptosis which in turn cleave many downstream proteins to kill the cells. They can also be inhibited through various means that include up-regulation of anti-apoptotic and down-regulation of pro-apoptotic factors. The authors here aim to impart a comprehensive understanding of the biochemical characteristics of these pathways that render scientists target these pathways and assess apoptosis restoring abilities of the novel drugs and natural products for cancer treatment.