Over the last 15 years, apoptosis has become a dominant focus of medical research in the field of immunology. This publication discusses the three major areas of apoptosis research: extrinsic death receptor pathways, intrinsic cell death pathways and the mechanisms responsible for apoptotic cell clearance. Each section delineates the proteins and signal transduction pathways and describes genetic alterations that lead to autoimmune diseases. Although most cell death abnormalities have been associated with systemic autoimmune disorders such as lupus erythematosus and lymphoproliferative syndromes, it is evident that regulation of cell death is also pertinent to disease expression in many organ-specific diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and glomerulonephritis. This volume highlights the recent advances in the basic mechanisms of apoptosis and the application of that knowledge to understanding the impact of defective apoptosis or defective clearance of apoptotic cells on the immune function and the expression of disease. It is of special interest to cell biologists, immunologists and clinicians.