Difference between Apoptosis and Necrosis


Introduction

The death of a cell can happen through these two processes and both processes are effective for cells. Some situations are responsible for these processes like integration process, accidents, hazardous processes etc. Necrosis and Apoptosis happen in various circumstances and the death of cells is the result of these processes. Trauma, radiation, and loss of oxygen are responsible for the death of cells and various types of physical and chemical processes are also creating disturbances in the function and structure of the cell.

What is Apoptosis?

Apoptosis is a biological procedure that can affect an animal and plant’s multicellular organs. The procedure helps to remove the useless cells that are harmful to the body. The process plays a major role in keeping the immune system healthy. The process helps to develop the body physically and makes it healthy. Approx. 50 to 80 cells are dying per year for the procedure of apoptosis. The procedure helps to keep balance in the body cell. The cancer cell, infected cells and also pre-cancerous cells are removed successfully with the help of this biological procedure. The procedure is important for the maturation of the cell cycle, cell development and other cellular activities.

Significance of Apoptosis

The process is important for many reasons like,

  • The process is maintaining the homeostasis process in multicellular organs.

  • The procedure helps to keep the cell number constancy in the organs.

  • The process is responsible for the death of the programmed cell. Death is helpful for the development of cells.

  • T-lymphocytes is pernicious for health; the process removes this cell.

  • The cells that are not useful for the body mean the unwanted cells are also removed by apoptosis.

  • Apoptosis is maintained by proper body structure and size.

Role of Apoptosis

The process maintained some important roles in the organs of the body. The important roles are described below.

  • The development process of the foetus is maintained by apoptosis. The finger separation happens during the separation.

  • The dorsal part of the neural tube is in a closed state for the procedure.

  • The removal of vestigial remnants is the result of death-program cells. The cells death happens for this procedure.

  • The Wolffian is reduced from the death cell during the foetus sex determination process.

  • The removal of the bladder and umbilicus of redundant tissues happened for the allowance of the apoptosis process.

Apoptosis: Pathways

The process is continued with two pathways that are described below.

  • Intrinsic pathways are giving responses to damage to DNA, factors of lack of growth and other internal factors. Molecules -Bax and BCl 2 are the two factors of this kind of pathway. The process is deciding on the removal process of the death cell with the stimuli.

  • The extrinsic pathway is another pathway in this apoptosis procedure. This pathway takes the responsibility for ligand binding at the surface of the cell. The tumor necrosis factors belong in this family and caspase activity is taking the initiative of receptor binding.

What is Necrosis?

The term Necrosis refers to bodily tissue death and it happens when little quantity of blood is transferred to tissue. Injury, radiation or chemical exposure is main reason for necrosis. It cannot be reversible. There is a chance of development of necrosis because trauma causes both biological and physical. Few physical ailments are cuts, bruising, burns and hyperthermia. Examples of biological damage that may happen: attack immunologically also effect of disease-causing substances. This process does not control by enzymes and energy is required for this process from outside.

Differences between Apoptosis and Necrosis

The differences between the Apoptosis and Necrosis are discussed below.

Apoptosis

Necrosis

Apoptosis is a general method of cell death that occurs in body. Here cell independently engages in death.

Necrosis is a biological method of death that happens when cells are put through severe outside circumstances.

This process is natural, no external forces influence it.

Outside influences such as trauma, poisons and illness cause it.

Organelles continue to work even after a call death.

Organelles stop work after a call death.

Cell membrane burst into number of, apoptotic entities

Component of cell is released after ruptures of cell membrane.

This method is trusted to be helpful but if cellular mechanisms that control body stabilised process too much or too little cell deaths, it is marked as abnormal.

It is normally destructive or detrimental.

There are no symptoms during this process.

There are many symptoms seen during this process such as tissue loss, inflammation and decreased blood movement in infected area.

It is happen because of selfgenerated impulses in cell.

The key causes behind this method include mycobacterial infections, bacterial and fungal infections, pancreatitis, denatured proteins or antibody-antigen deposits.

it does not require huge therapy.

Necrosis can be extremely dangerous and deadly if left untreated. In some cases, medical care is very crucial.

Energy is not needed in this method because enzymes control this action.

Energy is used to carry out the whole process.

Conclusion

Apoptosis refers to cell death which happens naturally in body and cells participate in this by themselves. It begins when nucleus of cell starts to shrink. After that, the membrane of plasma folds throughout different organs of the cells. After that organelles break down and scatter as they proceed further from others. On the other hand, necrosis cell death also happens but it is not natural. It can happen after any kind of injury, radiation and so on. If it is left untreated it can turn deadly.

FAQs

Qns 1. What are the most important steps of apoptosis?

Ans. Apoptosis has five most important steps. These are cell shrink, cell fragment, cytoskeleton collapse, nuclear envelope disassembly and cell release apoptotic body.

Qns 2. What happens when cells die in necrosis?

Ans. Cells that are going through necrosis are incapable of keeping membrane integrity and intracellular components. This is dangerous and causes inflammation.

Qns 3. Does Apoptosis and Necrosis need ATP?

Ans. Apoptosis is an ATP dependent process. It needs help from the mitochondrial function. But necrosis is totally independent of ATP.

Updated on: 13-Dec-2023

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