Apoptosis is a physiologic form of cell death present in many disease conditions.
When the balance of mitosis versus apoptosis is altered, tumor-like growth or degeneration of tissues may ensue. This appears to occur in several diseases, including those of the cardiovascular system, where apoptosis plays a key role in atherosclerosis and restenosis following angioplasty. Transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed the larger blebs contained mostly nuclear chromatin, whereas the many smaller fragments often had little or no chromatin. The early changes of apoptosis, including cell shrinkage and intense blebbing, occurred in under 5 min in both cells. Slight alterations such as cell size and further rounding occurred up to 8 h following the initial changes of apoptosis.