Apoptotic volume decrease and nitric oxide

Apoptosis is a physiological cell death process whose well-defined characteristics distinguish it from more accidental cell death processes. The loss of cell volume, or cell shrinkage, recently termed apoptotic volume decrease (AVD), is considered a hallmark of the apoptotic process. The activation and/or repression of the AVD process has been shown to be quite complex during apoptosis, with the involvement of multiple ionic transport mechanisms acting in both a cell type and stimulus specific manner. Similarly, the role of nitric oxide (NO) during apoptosis has also been shown to be just as complex, specifically in its ability to either induce and/or prevent apoptosis. This review examines current evidence for a link between AVD and NO and how they may interact during the programmed cell death process.