Cell injury and adaptation
Cells adjust to altered demands through changes in size, number and differentiation. When stress exceeds adaptive capacity, reversible injury can progress to cell death.
Open interactive lesson & self-check ↗Cell injury and adaptation — learning map
Original conceptual SVG · scalableOriginal schematic relationship map for this topic; relationships are organized for study, not intended as an anatomical depiction or a diagnostic algorithm.
Adaptation
Hypertrophy increases cell size, while hyperplasia increases cell number. Atrophy reduces tissue size and metaplasia replaces one differentiated cell type with another in certain contexts.
Reversible injury
ATP depletion, ion-pump impairment and cellular swelling may be reversible when the insult is removed before critical damage accumulates.
Necrosis
Severe injury may cause membrane disruption and release of cellular contents, often eliciting surrounding inflammation.
Apoptosis
Programmed cell death usually involves cell shrinkage and packaging into membrane-bound fragments without the same widespread content leakage as necrosis.
Reference and next reading
Explore the original curriculum and publisher-hosted resources for full-depth reading; this note is an original schematic introduction, not an exhaustive chapter.