Abstract: Cell apoptosis exists in the whole life of multicellular organisms，which is capable to maintain homeostasis of tissues and organs through removing unwanted or damaged cells. Eukaryotic cells mediate apoptosis through four main pathways：the death receptor-mediated extrinsic pathway，the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway，granzyme B-mediated pathway and endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated pathway. There are four important protein molecules involved in apoptotic pathways：caspases （the proteases which execute cell death），adapter proteins （caspase activators），Bcl-2 family proteins and Inhibitor of apoptosis proteins（IAPs）. Cell apoptosis plays an important role in establishment of ovarian reserve and abnormal apoptosis inducing some diseases，such as endometriosis，ovarian cancer，et al. In this review we will discuss the apoptotic pathways and their mechanisms mentioned above.

Key words: Apoptosis, Apoptotic protease-activating factor 1, Adaptor proteins, signal transducing, Genes, bcl-2