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Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Strategies for Tracking Anastasis, A Cell Survival Phenomenon that Reverses Apoptosis
Published on: February 16, 2015
Anti-apoptosis and cell survival: a review
Liam Portt1, Grant Norman, Caitlin Clapp
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Royal Military College, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract:
Type I programmed cell death (PCD) or apoptosis is critical for cellular self-destruction for a variety of processes such as development or the prevention of oncogenic transformation. Alternative forms, including type II (autophagy) and type III (necrotic) represent the other major types of PCD that also serve to trigger cell death. PCD must be tightly controlled since disregulated cell death is involved in the development of a large number of different pathologies. To counter the multitude of processes that are capable of triggering death, cells have devised a large number of cellular processes that serve to prevent inappropriate or premature PCD. These cell survival strategies involve a myriad of coordinated and systematic physiological and genetic changes that serve to ward off death. Here we will discuss the different strategies that are used to prevent cell death and focus on illustrating that although anti-apoptosis and cellular survival serve to counteract PCD, they are nevertheless mechanistically distinct from the processes that regulate cell death.
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