Cell injury and death Flashcards
What are the 3 responses to cell damange
Adaptation
Degenerate
Die
What is sublethal injury
- Atrophy
- Loss of volume (Na & H2O) control, swelling
- Intracellular accumulation (e.g. fat, iron, etc…)
What is lethal injury
- necrosis > always pathological
- apoptosis > mostly physiological, sometimes pathological, BUT NEVER (+) INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE
What are the 7 ways cells can be injured
- Hypoxia > ischaemia, anaemia, impaired lung function, CCF, CO poisoning
- physical > trauma, heat, cold, radiation, electric shock
- chemical > alcohol, paracetamol (acetaminophen), cyanide, CCL4, lead, paraquat
- infection > viruses, bacteria, rickettsiae, fungi, parasites
- genetic derangements > chromosomal alterations, gene mutations
- nutritional
- immunological
List 7 mechanisms implicated in cell injury
- Mitochondrial damage
- Cell membrane damage
- Damage to DNA
- Oxidative stress
- Disturbance in calcium homeostasis
- Accumulation of misfolded proteins
What does loss of calcium homeostasis promote and how does it occur
Ischaemia and toxins release calcium from cells.
- increase in Ca, increases the permeability of mitochondria.
- (+) phopholipases > degrade membrane phospholipids
- (+) proteases > break down membrane & cytoskeletal proteins
- (+) ATPases > exacerbate ATP depletion
- (+) Endonucleases > DNA fragmentation
Explain necrosis with respect to
- Cell size
- Cell target zone
- Injury
- Mechanism
- Degradation
- Reaction
- Cellular contents
- Nucleus
Enlarged (swelling)
Membrane
Membrane disruption
ATP, phospholipase etc
Autolytic (lysosomal)
Acute inflammation
Enzymatic digestion, may leak out of cell
Pykinosis, karyorrhexis, karyolysis
Explain apoptosis with respect to
- Cell size
- Cell target zone
- Injury
- Mechanism
- Nucleus
- Reaction
- Cellular contents
- Plasma membrane
- Reduced (shrinkage)
- Nucleus
- DNA denaturation
- Endonuclease (endogenous)
- Fragmentation
- Phagocytosis (receptors)
- Intact; may be released by apoptotic bodies
- Inatact; altered structure, especially orientation of lipids
Ultra structural changes indicating REVERSIBLE cell injury (6)
- Plasma membrane alterations
- Blebbing, blunting and loss of microvilli - Mitochondrial changes, swelling and the appearance of amorphous densities
- Accumulation of myelin figures (phospholipids from damaged cellular membranes) - pre necrosis
- Dilation of the ER with detachment of of polysomes
- Nuclear alterations, disaggregaion of granular and fibrillar elements
6 Eosinophilia.
The generalised swelling is due to influx of water from failure of the Na/ K ATPase (due to depletion of ATP from hypoxia)
Two features consistently seen in early stages of injury
- Generalised swelling (Hydropic change or vaculoar degeneration)
- dis-regulated ATP dependent Na/K pump, blebbing of membrane, detachment of ribosomes, clumping of nuclear chromatin. - Fatty change
- Metabolic pathways disrupted, accumulation of triglyceride filled vacuoles
What is necrosis characterised by
Denaturation of cellular proteins
leakage of cellular contents through damaged membranes
enzymatic digestion of the lethally injured cell.
What are the sequelae of hypoxia (5)
- impaired respiration and ATP formation
- imbibition of water
- impaired synthesis of protein in membrane
- change from aerobic to anaerobic glycosis
- karyolysis (faint, dissolved nucleus)
Describe (in detail) the events of reversible cell injury
Hypoxia > loss of oxidative phosphorylation > decrease ATP synthesis by mitochondria, which causes the following
1. Na/K ATPase slow down/stop > Na pump out of cell > increase intracellular Na! swelling of cell and organelle
2. change of metabolism > anaerobic glycolysis ( decrease glycogen store) > accumulation of lactic acid, decrease intracellular pH
3. detachment of ribosomes from rER > decreased protein synthesis > increase lipid deposition
Morphology indicating necrosis
-
- Ruptured/breakdown membrane
- Nuclear changes (shrinkage, fragmentation and dissolution)
- Abundant myelin figures
- Leakage/ enzymatic digestion of cellular contents
Morphology indicating apotosis
- Cell shrinkage
- Chromatin condensation (MOST CHARACTERISTIC)
- Formation of cystoplasmic bleb and apoptotic bodies
- Phagocytpsos of apoptotic bodies by macrophages
Nuclear changes consistent with necrosis
- pyknosis (small, dense nucleus) > nuclear shrinkage and chromatin condensation (also seen in apoptosis)
- karyorrhexis (nucleus broken up into many clumps)
- karyolysis (faint, dissolved nucleus)
What cellular events are typically associated with necrosis
- Severe mitochondrial damage with depletion of ATP
- Rupture of lysosomal and plasma membranes
Why is it currently accepted that cell membrane damage is a central factor in the pathogenesis of irreversible cell injury from many causes
Loss of regulation of cell volume and ionic gradients, plus cell membrane ultrastructural defects, occur in the earliest stages of irreversible injury
What are free radicals
Chemical species with unpaired electron in outer orbit, highly unstable and able to attack, CHO, lipids, proteins.
Some of these reactions are autocatalytic - i.e molecules that react with free radicals and are themselves converted into free radicals.
What are ROS and how are they produced
Oxygen derived free radical.
They are produced normally in cells during energy generation.
However ROS scavengers remove them.
Also produced by activated leukocytes during active inflammation (particularly neutrophils and macrophages).
List 6 ways free radicals are generated
- Reduction-oxidation reaction during normal metabolism
- Absorption of radiation e.g X rays
- Activated leukocytes produce ROS
- Metabolism of exogenous chemicals or drugs (paracetamol and carbon tetrachloride)
- Transition metals
- Nitric oxide
How do we remove free radicals
- antioxidants
- Lipid soluble Vit E, A, vit C and glutathione in the cytosol - Binding iron and copper
- transferrin
- ferritin
- Lactoferrin
- Ceruloplasmin - enzymes mopping them up,
- catalase
- Superoxide dismutases
- Glutathione peroxidase
List 5 ROS examples
- NO (Nitric oxide)
- H2O2 (Hydrogen peroxide)
- O2 (Superoxide anion)
- ONOO (Hydroxyl radical)
- OH (Hypochlorite)
List 3 pathologic effects of free radicals
(What type of death does ROS cause)
- Lipid per-oxidation in membranes (i.e punches holes in membranes)
- Oxidative modification of proteins (oxidation of protein backbone, disrupts proteins, unfolds proteins, damages enzymes)
- Lesions in DNA (Causes single and double stranded breaks in DNA)
Necrosis and apoptosis
List the 5 types of necrosis
Coagulative
Liquefactive
Fat
Caseous
Fibrinoid
What is coagulative necrosis
- Form of necrosis in which the architecture of dead tissue is preserved for a span of a few days.
- Affected tissue has a firm structure.
- Injury denatures proteins and enzymes and organelles
- Given enzymes are blocked dead cells cant be digested. Infiltrating leucocytes eventually degrade dead cells.
- Cell swelling
- Lots of eosinophils
- Localised area of coagulative necrosis = INFARCT
- Commonly seen in myocardium, kidney, liver & other organs (NOT seen in CNS)
What is liquefactive necrosis
- Characterised by digestion of dead cells = viscous liquid
- Occurs when autolysis & heterolysis prevail over protein denaturation
- Focal bacterial or occasionally fungal infections
- Necrotic area is soft and filled with fluid > creamy yellow because of presence of dead white cells
- CNS cells always die by liquefactive necrosis
What is fat necrosis
- Necrosis of adipose tissue, induced by action of lipases (from pancreatic duct, small intestine or macrophages)
- These catalyse FFA release from triglycerides
- FFA then binds with Ca > Ca soap
- These generate chalky white areas > fat saponification
- Think pancreatitis, trauma
What is caseous necrosis
- Characteristic of TB
- Appears grossly as soft, friable, ‘cheesy’ material
- Microscopically as amorphous eosinophilic material with cell debris
What is fibrinoid necrosis and when is it seen
Special form of vascular damage, seen in immune reactions involving blood vessels.
Complexes of antigens and antibodies are deposited in walls of arteries.
- Rheumatic fever
- Malignant hypertension
- The arthus phenomenon
- x-ray damage of the skin
What happens to necrotic cells that are not promptly destroyed or reabsorbed
- They become a foci for calcium and other minerals to deposit and thus tend to become calcified.
- Dystrophic calcfication
- Happens in all tissue types of necrosis