Elucidation of the mechanism and regulation of cell destruction in apoptosis requires knowledge of genome degradation. The cell genome, which encodes the fundamental cell programmes, is most likely to be the main sensitive target in cell apoptosis. Genome breakdown may be achieved by the generation and transduction of apoptogenic signal information to the specific chromatin regions of the nucleus, thus inactivating the basic cell programmes and inducing the endogenous pattern of chromatin degradation, which is determined by the genome organization of the eukaryotic nuclei. Detachment of chromatin from the nuclear matrix attachment regions may be one of the possible mechanisms of switching off the genome function and triggering the multi-step process of endogenous chromatin degradation, thus leading to cell death of terminal differentiation or stress-induced apoptosis.
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