IBIMA Publishing Journal of Research and Practice in Dentistry http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/DENT/dent.html Vol. 2014 (2014), Article ID 372284, 12 pages DOI: 10.5171/2014.372284 _____________ Cite this Article as: Megha Jain, Sowmya Kasetty, Samar Khan and Ami Desai (2014), “An Insight to Apoptosis,” Journal of Research and Practice in Dentistry, Vol. 2014 (2014), Article ID 372284, DOI: 10.5171/2014.372284 Review Article An Insight to Apoptosis Megha Jain 1 , Sowmya Kasetty 2 , Samar Khan 3 and Ami Desai 2 1 Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Peoples Dental Academy, Bhopal, Madhya, Pradesh, India 2 Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Peoples College of Dental Sciences and Research Center, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India 3 Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Rishiraj Dental College, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India Correspondence should be addressed to: Megha Jain; megha.vipin12@gmail.com Received 1 October 2013; Accepted 11 November 2013; Published 31 December 2013 Academic Editor: Thaís Helena Gasparoto Copyright © 2014 Megha Jain, Sowmya Kasetty, Samar Khan and Ami Desai. Distributed under Creative Commons CC-BY 3.0 Abstract Apoptosis is considered as a tightly regulated active process signified by specific morphological and biochemical. On contrary to apoptosis, necrosis is a passive, energy independent pathologic process. The significance of understanding the apoptosis cascade mechanism is imperative as apoptosis being component of both physiological and pathological process. Apoptosis can be stimulated by both physiological and pathological conditions and hence play a role in maintenance of normal homeostasis and in pathogenesis of several diseases. Signaling for apoptosis occurs via caspase dependent and independent pathways that are initiated either from triggering events within the cell or from outside the cell by ligation of death receptors. Present review aims to provide an overview regarding apoptosis, its morphological and biochemical characterstics, its mechanism and its implication in health and diseases. Keywords: Programmed cell death, Necrosis, Caspases, TUNEL, Phosphatidylserine. Introduction The word “apoptosis” is derived from the ancient Greek word meaning the falling off of petals from a flower or of leaves from a tree in autumn. The term was first introduced by Kerr, Wyllie and Currie in 1972, to describe the morphological processes leading to controlled cellular self-destruction. As apoptosis was introduced as a term describing a specific morphology of cell death, it should not be used synonymously with the term “programmed cell death (PCD)”, which usually occurs via apoptosis. (Lawson A 2003) The apoptotic mode of cell death plays an important role in the development, regulation and maintenance of the cell populations in both physiological and pathological conditions. How Apoptosis is Different from Necrosis? In apoptosis, cell is an active participant in its own demise. This type of cell death is controlled, energy dependent and can affect individual or cluster of cells. In