[Physicopathologic mechanisms and methods of analysis of cellular apoptosis]

Apoptosis is a normal process occurring during development and in various tissues in humans. It appears that the mechanisms responsible for apoptosis are implicated in many aspects of human diseases. The apoptotic answer is in fact the integration of multiple different and complex signalization pathways which communicate, bifurcate and self-regulate. The mitochondria take an essential place in the description of programmed cell death and its regulation mechanisms. Caspases are the effector of apoptotic cell death. The methods of identification of the apoptosis pathways are: morphological modifications observed in microscopy, the evaluation of the difference of the mitochondrial membrane potential, the measurement of the DEVDase activity, the labelling of the phosphatidylserines by the annexin V on the cell surface, and the Western blot allowing the identification of the activated caspases. Apoptosis is implicated in many pathologies. A better understanding of the mechanisms of apoptosis and tissue specificity of the caspases make it possible to consider in the future the development of synthetic inhibitors as serious candidates for a therapeutic intervention.