Abstract
The clearance of apoptotic cells is known to be a critical step in maintaining tissue and organism homeostasis. This process is rapidly/promptly mediated by recruited or resident phagocytes. Phagocytes that engulf apoptotic cells have been closely linked to the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines to eliminate inflammatory responses. Defective clearance of apoptotic cells can cause severe inflammation and autoimmune responses due to secondary necrosis of apoptotic cells. Recently accumulated evidence indicates that apoptotic cells and their clearance have important physiological roles in addition to immune-related functions. Herein, we review the current understanding of the mechanisms and fundamental roles of apoptotic cell clearance and the beneficial roles of apoptotic cells in physiological processes such as differentiation and development.
Highlights
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Apoptotic cell death and clearance of dying cells occur throughout the life of an organism
The clearance of dying cells can contribute to physiological processes such as differentiation and development beyond immunosuppression-related pathways
Summary
There are various types of cell death such as apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, and NETosis. The cell turnover rate in the human body is known to be approximately 1 million cells per second (>109 per day) to maintain normal cellular and tissue homeostasis [15,16]. This indicates significant cell death per day, apoptotic cells are hardly detected in the body [15,16]. This implies that cell corpses are rapidly removed through a highly efficient mechanism for the clearance of apoptotic cells [15]. In this review, we focus on the current understanding of the special functions of apoptotic cell clearance under physiological conditions, as well as the mechanism of clearance of dying cells
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