Biochemical changes of apoptosis

Biochemical changes

1) Fragmentation of DNA

A remarkable feature of apoptosis is the degradation of DNA in cell chromosomes, which is a common phenomenon. This degradation is very specific and regular. The resulting DNA fragments with different lengths are about 180-200bp integral multiples, which is exactly the length of the entangling histone oligomer. It suggests that chromosome DNA is cut off at the junction of nucleosomes and nucleosomes, producing oligonucleosome fragments with different lengths. Experiments show that this controlled degradation of DNA is the result of an endogenous endonuclease, The enzyme cuts off chromosome DNA at the junction of nucleosome, and this degradation shows a specific ladder pattern in agarose gel electrophoresis, while necrosis shows a diffuse continuous pattern.

2) Macromolecule synthesis

The biochemical changes of apoptosis are not only the controlled degradation of DNA, but also the expression of new genes and the synthesis of some biological macromolecules as regulatory factors in the process of apoptosis. For example, our laboratory found that TFAR-19 overexpressed a molecule during apoptosis. For example, in the process of glucocorticoid induced apoptosis of mouse thymocytes, the addition of RNA synthesis inhibitors or protein synthesis inhibitors can inhibit the occurrence of apoptosis.