How to Use apoptosis in a Sentence

apoptosis

noun
  • As a result, those cells die in a process known as apoptosis.
    Claire Maldarelli, Popular Science, 7 May 2021
  • Within hours of death, cells begin to break down in a process called apoptosis.
    Andrew Moseman, Discover Magazine, 11 Feb. 2010
  • In Orf3a, the protein that oversees apoptosis, or cell death, the researchers note the S261L mutation.
    William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2021
  • At the same time, the cell begins a preprogrammed self-destruct sequence, a process known as apoptosis.
    Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 11 Aug. 2020
  • In the average adult, apoptosis triggers the death of 50 to 70 billion cells within a single day.
    William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2021
  • Quercetin has also been linked to apoptosis, the self-destruct sequence the body uses to kill off worn out or dysfunctional cells.
    Cynthia Sass, Mph, Health.com, 25 Oct. 2019
  • When a cell dies via apoptosis, a natural process the body uses to remove damaged cells, PS becomes exposed to the outside of that cell.
    Sathy Balu-Iyer, The Conversation, 29 Nov. 2021
  • Every single minute, cells that are not functioning right are programmed for death through a process called apoptosis.
    Stav Dimitropoulos, Popular Mechanics, 6 Apr. 2023
  • Both try to stop a cell's emergency safety switch, a self-destruct mechanism known as apoptosis.
    Mark Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3 June 2021
  • If enough damage builds up, the cell surrenders and undergoes programmed cell death, or apoptosis.
    Celia Ford, WIRED, 17 July 2023
  • Quercetin has also been linked to apoptosis, the self-destruct sequence the body uses to kill off worn out or dysfunctional cells, which may help reduce cancer risk.
    Cynthia Sass, Mph, Health.com, 12 Dec. 2019
  • Along with colleagues, the pair focused on a core challenge: how to coax myofibroblasts to self-destruct, a cellular process called apoptosis.
    Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Science | AAAS, 13 Dec. 2017
  • In one study in rats, swimming was shown to stimulate brain pathways that suppress inflammation in the hippocampus and inhibit apoptosis, or cell death.
    Seena Mathew, Quartz, 31 July 2021
  • The second notable change occurs in another process, apoptosis.
    William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2021
  • Last year, geneticists working on a sponge genome identified more than a thousand genes that appear to make up the toolkit required for the jump, including genes for apoptosis, cell signaling, and telling self from other.
    Veronique Greenwood, Discover Magazine, 23 June 2011
  • When a senescent cell resists apoptosis, the damage is allowed to continue, a festering wound embedded deep in our tissues.
    Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 11 Aug. 2020
  • Past research has shown that TNF boosts two opposing processes: one that encourages cellular suicide, also known as apoptosis, and one that tells cells to go on living.
    Nala Rogers, Discover Magazine, 2 June 2021
  • These impostors could then be used to dupe overactive immune cells into believing that apoptosis rather than necrosis was taking place.
    The Economist, 14 Sep. 2017
  • Without ever touching your skin, the laser energy causes apoptosis (cell death) in the fat cells while an automatic jet cooling system helps keep your skin from overheating.
    Garrett Munce, Men's Health, 13 Mar. 2023
  • These instructions for cell death, called apoptosis, start well before freezing temperatures are reached.
    Kate Golembiewski, Discover Magazine, 14 Oct. 2022
  • This futuristic device utilizes a 1064 nm laser that is proven to induce apoptosis (which is essentially the death of unwanted cells) in adipose tissue, also known as body fat.
    Meggen Harris, Forbes, 16 June 2022
  • Unlike necrosis, the leftovers of apoptosis are mostly tolerated by the immune system.
    The Economist, 14 Sep. 2017
  • When the immune system is working properly, these loiterers are promptly destroyed via apoptosis, or programmed cell death.
    Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 4 Dec. 2021
  • These proteins can both induce or prevent apoptosis, and the team suspected that the balance between these proteins was disrupted in the overactive myofibroblasts.
    Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Science | AAAS, 13 Dec. 2017
  • If the damage is sufficiently critical, the cell will respond by committing an orderly sort of suicide called apoptosis, which keeps it from causing any further problems.
    John Timmer, Ars Technica, 10 July 2018
  • Some of the affected pathways seemed intuitive, inhibiting cell processes like division and apoptosis, or cell death.
    Gregory Barber, Wired, 27 June 2020
  • There is evidence that nicotine inhibits apoptosis — the process by which cells self-destruct, which is an important guard against tumour formation — in cancer cells by binding to cholinergic receptors.
    Anthony King, Scientific American, 13 June 2023
  • This protein regulates apoptosis, which is a major factor in viral pathogenicity.
    William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2021
  • The result was that the cells became less likely to destroy themselves through a process called apoptosis (programmed cell death), which organisms often use as a kind of quality control system for eliminating defective tissue.
    Quanta Magazine, 7 Nov. 2017
  • LysoTracker Red staining shows widespread apoptosis (cell death) in the tip chicken and quail developing penises, whereas duck, goose, emu, and alligator genitalia at comparable stages show limited death.
    Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 6 June 2013

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'apoptosis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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