Note: Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Contributors -- Abbreviations -- Preface -- 1 Apoptotic cell death: from worms to wombats ... but what about the weeds? -- Caenorhabditis elegans: the worm that turned ... into a model multicellular eukaryote -- The molecular mechanisms of programmed cell death in Caenorhabditis elegans -- Comparison with mammalian apoptosis -- Plants, from Arabidopsis to Zinnia -- General conclusions -- 2 Caspases - at the cutting edge of cell death -- Introduction -- Caspases and their properties -- Structure of the caspases -- Activation and regulation of the caspases -- Evolution of the caspases -- 3 Modulation of death receptor signalling -- Introduction -- Death receptors and apoptosis -- Activation of death receptors by death ligands -- Decoy receptors -- Inhibition of death receptor by FLIP -- Conclusion -- 4 The role of the Bcl-2 family in the modulation of apoptosis -- Introduction -- Bcl-2 family: life or death promoters -- Function of the Bcl-2 family proteins -- Cellular control of Bcl-2 family proteins -- Over-expression of Bcl-2 family proteins and chemoresistance -- Drug resistance in B-CLL -- Strategies for inhibiting Bcl-2 function in B-CLL -- Conclusions -- 5 The role of granzymes and serpins in regulating cell growth and death -- Introduction -- Induction of apoptosis by cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells -- How does granzyme B gain access to the interior of target cells? -- Molecular targets of granzyme B -- Regulation of granzyme B activity -- The intracellular regulation of granzyme B by PI-9 -- The role of intracellular serpins in cell growth and death -- Conclusions -- 6 Mitochondria and cell death: a pore way to die? -- Introduction -- The mitochondrial permeability transition -- Mitochondria and apoptosis. , 7 Regulation of apoptosis by cell metabolism, cytochrome c and the cytoskeleton -- Introduction -- Apoptosis: the general scene -- Apoptosis and the cytoskeleton -- Apoptosis and metabolism -- Measurement of apoptosis -- Apoptosis in a defined haematopoietic cell system -- IL3 dependency: a universal model for life/death signalling -- Final comments -- 8 Organelle-specific death pathways -- Introduction -- Bcl-2 family proteins are present in multiple subcellular compartments -- ER dysfunction induces apoptosis -- Apoptosis initiated at other intracellular locations -- The role of subcellular apoptotic complexes -- Concluding remarks -- 9 Telomeres, telomerase and cellular immortalization -- Introduction -- Cellular or replicative senescence -- Telomeres: form and function -- Telomere-binding proteins -- Telomerase -- Telomerase and cancer -- Telomerase-knockout mouse -- Immortalization of normal cells by telomerase -- Future prospects -- 10 Back from the brink: plant senescence and its reversibility -- Many ways to get dead -- Organ senescence has a cellular basis -- How do senescing cells change colour? -- Senescence is an energy-demanding oxidative process -- Proteins are re mobilized in cell senescence - but how? -- Senescence is programmed -- Senescence is regulated at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level -- Senescence is reversible -- Post-mortem -- 11 Senescence and cell death in Brassica napus and Arabidopsis -- What is senescence in plants? -- Senescence and programmed cell death -- When is senescence induced? -- What happens during senescence? -- Analysis of leaf senescence in B. napus -- Links between different types of senescence -- Expression of the senescence-enhanced metallothionein gene, LSC54 -- Expression of other senescence-enhanced genes -- The screen for mutants -- Conclusions -- 12 Cytokinin and its receptors. , Introduction -- Cytokinins and leaf senescence -- Cytokinin receptors -- 13 Ethylene-triggered cell death during aerenchyma formation in roots -- Introduction -- Patterns of aerenchyma formation -- Aerenchyma function -- Ethylene biosynthesis and induction of cell death -- Ethylene signal transduction pathways -- Programmed cell death -- 14 Targeted cell death in xylogenesis -- Introduction -- Plant programmed cell death -- Cell death is blocked by a cathepsin B inhibitor -- Conclusion -- 15 Abscission and dehiscence -- Introduction -- Events associated with abscission -- Abscission and PCD -- Dehiscence -- Events associated with dehiscence -- Dehiscence and PCD -- PCD and the manipulation of dehiscence -- Conclusions -- 16 Regulation of cell cycle arrest and cell death -alternative responses to DNA damage -- Introduction -- A role for p53 in the G2 DNA damage checkpoint -- ATM and cellular responses to DNA damage -- Resistance to checkpoint-suppressing drugs -- 17 Tissue transglutaminase in cell death -- Introduction -- The role of tissue transglutaminase in apoptosis -- Molecular bases of tissue transglutaminase regulation during cell death: role of the enzyme in embryogenesis -- Role of calcium in apoptosis and in the activation of tissue transglutaminase -- Tissue transglutaminase-induced cell death: a novel death pathway -- Conclusion -- 18 Pathways used by adenovirus E1B 19K to inhibit apoptosis -- Introduction -- E1B 19K p53-mediated apoptosis -- The Fas and TNF-R1 pathways are blocked by E1B 19K -- E1B 19K inhibits the caspase adapter molecules CED-4 and Apaf-1 -- E1B 19K interacts with Btf, a novel transcriptional repressor -- Future directions -- 19 Tumour cell death -- Introduction -- Cell death in tumours -- Tumour necrosis factor ɑ and tumour cell death -- The role of p53 and Bcl-2 in tumour cell apoptosis. , Non-apoptotic programmed cell death? -- 20 Controlling apoptosis: implications for carcinogenesis -- Introduction -- p53 -- Msh2 -- Msh2 and p53 -- Conclusions -- 21 Type I interferons inhibit the resolution of chronic inflammation -- Introduction -- The resolution of immune responses is mediated by apoptosis -- Pathways leading to T-cell apoptosis -- Resolution of T-cell mediated immune responses in healthy individuals -- The resolution of immune responses is inhibited in chronic inflammation -- Stromal rescue is mediated by IFN-ß -- Inhibition of spontaneous neutrophil apoptosis in vitro and in the rheumatoid joint -- Apoptosis of stromal cells in rheumatoid arthritis -- How does type I interferon inhibit T-cell apoptosis? -- Conclusion -- 22 Death of plant cells and their contribution to rumen function -- An introduction to the rumen ecosystem -- Potential responses of plant metabolism to the rumen -- Cell death in plants -- Post-ingestion plant metabolism in the rumen -- does it resemble cell death? -- Future prospects for improved livestock agriculture -- 23 Postscript: some concluding observations and speculations -- Index.