Apoptosis is a physiological response in development and homeostasis of metazoans. Apoptosis is triggered during pathological events as a means to renew affected tissues and eliminate cancer cells. The immune system regulates the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis, where signals such as TNFα or displayed ligands on the surface of immune cells trigger signal cascades by death receptors present on targeted cells. Therapeutics, like Doxorubicin, lead to apoptosis successfully.

Currently, there is a growing need for culturing hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) ex vivo for various clinical applications such as HSPC transplantation and gene therapy. For many patients with hematologic, genetic, and immune diseases, HSPC transplants can be a life-saving treatment. There are over 20,000 patients in the US receiving HSPC transplantation yearly.

The enteric nervous system is the largest component of the autonomic nervous system. It contains a broad network of interconnected plexuses and enteric neuronal subtypes which are in charge of the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Vagal and sacral neural crest cells are at the basis of the enteric nervous system development. These cells undergo multiple processes such as migration, proliferation and differentiation to finally form a functional enteric nervous system.

HIV-1 has the capability to establish latency during early infection in CD4+ cells, posing a significant challenge to the efforts aimed at curing HIV-1/AIDS. One extensively explored strategy to address this viral latency is the "shock-and-kill" approach. This involves reactivating viral replication using latency reversal agents (LRAs) to induce the death of infected cells. Regrettably, no LRAs with proven effectiveness have been identified thus far.

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma is a soft tissue sarcoma whose resistance to chemotherapies is associated with defective apoptosis or/and cell cycle. Given that we have reported that the liposoluble extract from the leaves of Nicotiana glauca induces apoptosis in embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma cells, this research aims to know the molecular mechanism involved, to elucidate the pharmacological potential of the Nicotiana glauca.