Apoptosis is a regulated, energy-dependent process by which a cell se- destructs. This mechanism of programmed cell death plays an important role in normal development and control of cell numbers in mature a- mals. Apoptosis was initially defined by morphological criteria to describe the distinctive appearance of dying cells that developed nuclear conden- tion, cell shrinkage, and cytoplasmic blebbing. Initiation of the apoptotic process can come from external or internal stimuli and is highly regulated both by molecules that facilitate and by molecules that inhibit the process. Common features of apoptosis include activation of proteases and - cleases, mitochondrial membrane permeabilization, chromatin disruption, and translocation of phosphatidylserine from the inner to the outer s- face of the plasma membrane. Apoptotic cells attract phagocytes that - gulf the apoptotic bodies and prevent tissue damage in the region. Intense investigation of the cell death process has defined many molecular features of the pathway by which regulation and execution can be exploited by pathogens.

Diane E. Griffin, Professor, Department Chair, PhD and MD, Stanford University, 1968, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology 

Viral infections.- Mechanisms and importance of apoptosis during reovirus infections.-Poliovirus, pathogenesis of poliomyelitis and apoptosis.- Neuronal Cell Death in Alphavirus Encephalomyelitis.- HSV-Induced Apoptosis in Herpes Encephalitis.- The role of apoptosis in defense against baculovirus infection in insects.- Bacterial infections.- The role of host cell death in Salmonella infections.- Role of macrophage apoptosis in Yersinia pathogenesis.- Parasitic infections.- Entamoeba histolytica activates host cell caspases during contact-dependent cell killing.- Interactions between malaria and mosquitoes: the role of apoptosis in parasite establishment and vector response to infection.- Apoptosis and its modulation during infection with Toxoplasma gondii: Molecular mechanisms and role in pathogenesis.- Immune responses.- Modulation of the immune response in the nervous system by rabies virus.- Apoptotic cells at the crossroads of tolerance and immunity.- Subject index