APOPTOSIS - A KEY REGULATORY PROCESS IN GLOMERULONEPHRITIS

Abstract

Apoptosis is a physiological,'programmed' form of cell death. This article sets out the case that apoptosis is a key regulatory process in glomerulonephritis. There is now abundant evidence that this type of cell death occurs in glomerular disease, where it may serve to clear away 'unwanted' cells during resolution of glomerular injury. Apoptosis is regulated by proteins both exogenons and endogenous to the dying cell. Therefore, there is intense interest in defining genetic controls on glomerular cell death, which can operate to trigger apoptosis or promote cell survival. However, apoptosis can have a 'dark side', and may mediate undesirable cell loss in some disease processes. Clearly, the..