Cadmium and cellular signaling cascades: interactions between cell death and survival pathways

Cellular stress elicited by the toxic metal Cd2+ does not coerce the cell into committing to die from the onset. Rather, detoxification and adaptive processes are triggered concurrently, allowing survival until normal function is restored. With high Cd2+, death pathways predominate. However, if sublethal stress levels affect cells for prolonged periods, as in chronic low Cd2+ exposure, adaptive and survival mechanisms may deregulate, such that...