Lecture 26 Flashcards
Cell Injury & Death
stages of cellular response to stress and injurious stimuli
normal cell is in homeostasis
- stress leads to adaptation, if unable to adapt -> cell injury
- injurious stimulus leads to cell injury
- if cell injury is mild and transient, it is reversible and can go back to being a normal cell
- if cell injury is severe and progessive, it is irreversible and can lead to necrosis or apoptosis
pg 616
common causes of cell injury
- oxygen deprivation -> anoxia or ischemia
- physical, chemical, environmental agents and drugs
- infectious agents
- immunologic reactions
- genetic abnormalities
- nutritional imbalances
pg 617
progession of cell injury to death
- all stresses and noxious influences evert their effects first at the molecular or biochemical level
- time lag b/n stress and morphologic changes: early changes are subtle (histochemical, ultrastructural, or biochemical), changes visible by light microscopy or the naked eye may take hours to develop
- morphologic manifestations of necrosis take more time to develop than those of reversible damage
- various forms of cell death have been identified with each relying on a diff sibset of proteins for the activation and execution of their respective pathways
pg 618
biochemical and morphologic changes in cell injury
in reversible cell injury, cell function declines rapidly
in irreversible cell injury, there are biochemical alterations leading to cell death, ultrastructural changes, light microscopic changes, and gross morphologic changes (all which take some time to occur)
pg 619
reversible cell injury
features seen in reversibly injured cells:
- generalized swelling of the cell and its organelles (result from influx of water -> failure of Na+K+ATPase pump; causes pallor, increased turgor, and increased weight of affected organ)
- blebbing of the plasma membrane (leads to disintegration of membrane in irreversible injury)
- detachment of ribosomes from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
- clumping of nuclear chromatin
- fatty change (occurs in organs involved in lipid metabolism; toxic injury disrupts metabolic pathways and leads to rapid accumulation of triglyceride-filled lipid vacuoles)
- small clear vacuoles may be seen w/in the cytoplasm
pg 620
morphologic differences between necrosis and apoptosis
necrosis
- cell SWELLING (at this point it is reversible)
- progressive injury leading to breakdown of plasma membrane (no longer reversible)
- mitochondrial leakage leads to inflammation
- unplanned! BAD for the cell and environment!
apoptosis
- cell SHRINKING
- cellular fragmentation
- phagocytosis of apoptotic cells and fragments by macrophages
- NO inflammation
- controlled! good for environment
morphology of reversible cell injury: ultrastructural changes
- plasma membrane alterations -> blebbing, blunting, and loss of microvilli (first thing to go)
- mitochondrial changes -> swelling and appearance of small amorphous densities
- accumulation of “myelin figures” in the cytosol composed of phospholipids derived from damaged cellular membranes
- dilation of the ER with detachment of polysomes
- nuclear alterations with disaggregation of granular and fibrillar elements
pg 623
common mechanisms of cell death
- unprogrammed: necrosis (result of injury -> catastrophe)
- programmed: split into caspase dependent and independent
- caspase dependent: apoptosis (intrinsic pathway, extrinsic pathway) and pyroptosis
- caspase independent: necroptosis, ferroptosis, autophagy
pg 625
necrosis
characterized by:
- cellular swelling (as opposed to shrinkage)
- denaturation of cellular proteins
- leakage of cellular contents through damaged membranes eliciting a host reaction (inflammation)
- enzymatic digestion of the lethally injured cell by lysosomal enzymes
pg 628
leakage of cellular contents through damaged membranes eliciting a host reaction (inflammation)
- some specific substances released from injured cells have been called damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs)
- these include ATP (released from damaged mitochondria), uric acid (a breakdown product of DNA), and numerous other molecules that are normally confined within healthy cells and whose release is an indicator of severe cell injury
- basis for blood tests that detect tissue-specific cellular injury
pg 628
morphology of necrosis
- necrotic cells show increased eosinophilia (PINK) in H&E stains -> attributable in part to the loss of cytoplasmic RNA (binds BLUE stain) and in part to accumulation of denatured cytoplasmic proteins (which bind the red dye eosin)
- necrotic cells may have a glassy homogenous appearance, mainly as a result of the loss of glycogen particles
- when enzymes have digested the cell’s organelles, the cytoplasm becomes vacuolated and appears moth-eaten -> looks like holes exist
- dead cells may be replaced by large whorled phospholipid precipitates called myelin figures: either phagocytosed by other cells or further degraded into fatty acids; calcification of FA residues results in deposition of calcium-rich precipitates
pg 629
morphology of necrosis - nuclear changes
nuclear changes appear in one of three patterns, all due to breakdown of DNA
* karyolysis: basophilia of the chromatin may fade (a change that presumably reflects loss of DNA because of enzymatic degradation by endonucleases)
* pyknosis: characterized by nuclear shrinkage and increased basophilia; here the chromatin condenses into a dense, shrunken basophilic mass (blueish color)
* karyorrhexis: pyknotic nucleus undergoes fragmentation
* with the passage of time (1-2 days), the nucleus in the necrotic cell totally disappears
pg 630
morphology of coagulative necrosis
- form of necrosis in which the architecture of dead tissue is preserved for a span of at least some days
- affected tissue has a firm texture
- injury denatures not only structural proteins, but also enzymes and so blocks the proteolysis of the dead cells (intensely eosinophilic cells with indistinct or reddish nuclei may persist)
- necrotic cells are broken down by the action of lysosomal enzymes derived from infiltrating leukocytes, which also remove the debris of the dead cells by phagocytosis
- ischemia caused by obstruction in a vessel may lead to coagulative necrosis of the supplied tissue in all organs except the brain
- a localized area of coagulative necrosis is called an infarct
- common in the kidneys
pg 632
morphology of liquefactive necrosis
- characterized by digestion of the dead cells, resulting in transformation of the tissue into a viscous liquid
- seen in focal bacterial or fungal infections because microbes stimulate the accumulation of leukocytes and the liberation of enzymes from these cells
- necrotic material is frequently creamy yellow because of the presence of pus
- hypoxic death of cells within the CNS often manifests this way
- ischemic lesions in BRAIN -> breakdown of lipids
pg 633
morphology of gangrenous necrosis
- not a specific pattern of cell death, but the term is commonly used in clinical practice
- usually applied to a limb, generally the lower leg, that has lost its blood supply and has undergone necrosis (typically coagulative necrosis) involving multiple tissue planes
- when bacterial infection is superimposed, there is more liquefactive necrosis because of the actions of degradative enzymes in the bacteria and the attracted leukocytes (giving rise to so-called wet gangrene -> has an inflammatory component)
- occurs in the fingers and toes
pg 634