Apoptosis in TMJ Disc Diseases.docVIP

Open Journal of Apoptosis, 2013, 2, 45-47 /10.4236/ojapo.2013.24007 Published Online October 2013 (/journal/ojapo) Apoptosis in TMJ Disc Diseases Giuseppe Musumeci , Carla Loreto * Department of Bio-Medical Sciences, Human Anatomy and Histology Division, University of Catania, Catania, Italy Email: g.musumeci@unict.it * Received August 10, 2013; revised September 10, 2013; accepted September 18, 2013 Copyright ? 2013 Giuseppe Musumeci, Carla Loreto. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribu- tion License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The apoptosis is the programmed cell death, a distinct process compared to cellular necrosis, which plays an important role in both human embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis. Apoptosis represents a phy- siological form of cell death. The role of apoptosis is to remove harmful, damaged or unwanted cells without in- ducing inflammatory response by the release of cell con- tents [1]. Apoptosis is activated through two principal signaling pathways: intrinsic and extrinsic, both of which are potential anticancer therapeutic targets. In contrast to necrosis, which is a form of cell death resulting from an acute cellular stress or trauma, apoptosis is a death order- ly and regular, does not induce inflammation, requires energy (ATP) and generally lead to an advantage during the body life. Besides its importance as a biological phe- nomenon, it has acquired a huge medical value, since imperfect process of apoptosis covers many diseases. Ex- cessive activity can cause trouble by apoptotic cell loss (see, for example neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease), while a weak apoptosis may invol- ve uncontrolled cell growth in malignancy mechanism [2]. Apoptosis is the most common mechanism by which the body elimin