Yes, stress can cause apoptosis, but it's not a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Instead, prolonged stress or the failure of the cell's adaptive response to stress triggers apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death.
Types of Stress and Apoptosis
Various stressors can initiate apoptosis. These include:
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Oxidative Stress: An imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the ability of the cell to detoxify them. As noted in "Oxidative stress and apoptosis" and "Oxidative stress induces autophagic cell death independent of ...", oxidative stress significantly contributes to apoptosis. It can induce the expression of FasL, further promoting apoptosis, as detailed in "Oxidative stress-induced apoptosis and autophagy: Balancing the ...".
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Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) Stress: Disruption of protein folding within the ER, leading to an accumulation of misfolded proteins. As highlighted in "Mediators of endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis - PMC" and "Cell death induced by endoplasmic reticulum stress - Iurlaro - 2016 ...", prolonged ER stress or a failure in the adaptive response results in apoptosis. The article "ER stress-induced cell death mechanisms" further details the cellular process.
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Heat Stress: Intense heat can trigger an early wave of apoptosis, as demonstrated in "Heat stress induces apoptosis through transcription-independent ...".
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Mitochondrial Apoptotic Stress: Sublethal stress affecting mitochondria can also regulate apoptosis and senescence through similar mechanisms, as shown in "Apoptotic stress causes mtDNA release during senescence and ...".
The mechanism of stress-induced apoptosis often involves stress-activated proteins and pathways, as mentioned in "Apoptosis: Does stress kill? - ScienceDirect". For example, the C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) plays a crucial role in apoptosis induced by ER stress through death-receptor pathways ("The C/EBP Homologous Protein (CHOP) Transcription ... - Frontiers").
