Overview

Cells respond to stress in several ways – they can adapt to a new steady state, they can become injured (reversibly or irreversibly), and they can die.

• Sometimes, when some of the metabolic functions are deranged, they can also accumulate intracellular materials which are visible on the light microscopy.
• Causes of stress range from physiologic to pathologic. Physiologic or mild pathologic stimuli are more likely to result in adaptation, while more severe stress may lead to injury and cell death.
• For cell injury and death, you will learn about:
  • Definitions of specific important terms
  • Causes (eg. hypoxia, chemical agents etc.)
  • Mechanisms (i.e. ATP depletion, cell membrane damage etc)
  • Morphology