Question:medium
What is NOT TRUE about apoptosis?
What is NOT TRUE about apoptosis?
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Apoptosis does not cause inflammation because the membrane stays intact and apoptotic bodies are cleared quietly by phagocytosis.
Updated On: Jul 8, 2026
- Surrounding inflammation
- Macrophages take up dead tissue
- Activation of caspase occurs
- Endonucleases mediate chromatolysis
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The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Compare apoptosis with its opposite, necrosis.
Necrosis is an uncontrolled, messy death where the cell swells, the membrane bursts, and enzymes and cell debris spill into the tissue, drawing in neutrophils and causing visible inflammation. Apoptosis is the tidy, controlled opposite of this.
Step 2: Trace what happens to an apoptotic cell.
The membrane stays sealed the whole time, so nothing leaks out to alarm the immune system. The cell shrinks, its DNA gets chopped by activated endonucleases into regular fragments, giving the classic condensed, clumped chromatin. Caspases drive the whole cascade, cleaving proteins that hold the cytoskeleton and nucleus together.
Step 3: See how the cell disappears.
Once broken into small, membrane wrapped apoptotic bodies, nearby macrophages and even ordinary neighboring cells quietly engulf these fragments. Because nothing spills out, no inflammatory chemicals are ever released.
Step 4: Match this against the four statements.
Caspase activation, endonuclease mediated chromatolysis, and macrophage clearance are all genuine features of apoptosis. Surrounding inflammation is the one feature that belongs to necrosis instead, so it is the false statement here.
\[ \boxed{\text{Surrounding inflammation}} \]
Necrosis is an uncontrolled, messy death where the cell swells, the membrane bursts, and enzymes and cell debris spill into the tissue, drawing in neutrophils and causing visible inflammation. Apoptosis is the tidy, controlled opposite of this.
Step 2: Trace what happens to an apoptotic cell.
The membrane stays sealed the whole time, so nothing leaks out to alarm the immune system. The cell shrinks, its DNA gets chopped by activated endonucleases into regular fragments, giving the classic condensed, clumped chromatin. Caspases drive the whole cascade, cleaving proteins that hold the cytoskeleton and nucleus together.
Step 3: See how the cell disappears.
Once broken into small, membrane wrapped apoptotic bodies, nearby macrophages and even ordinary neighboring cells quietly engulf these fragments. Because nothing spills out, no inflammatory chemicals are ever released.
Step 4: Match this against the four statements.
Caspase activation, endonuclease mediated chromatolysis, and macrophage clearance are all genuine features of apoptosis. Surrounding inflammation is the one feature that belongs to necrosis instead, so it is the false statement here.
\[ \boxed{\text{Surrounding inflammation}} \]
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