Final answer:
Cancer cells are the type of cells that died in the presence of STF-31, as it induces the production of reactive oxygen species which in turn leads to cell death. Multiple factors may contribute to the failure of cancer cells to die, such as mutations and overexpression of certain pathways. P53 can trigger apoptosis if crucial cell cycle events are missed.
Step-by-step explanation:
The cells that died in the presence of STF-31 are cancer cells. STF-31 is known to target cancer cells, particularly those with a dependency on glucose. It works by inhibiting glucose uptake, leading to the production of reactive oxygen species and inducing cell death.
There are multiple hypotheses that could explain why cancer cells may fail to die in the presence of an inducer of apoptosis, including a mutation preventing the initiation of apoptosis signaling, loss of expression of the receptor for the apoptosis-inducing ligand, or the overexpression of a growth factor pathway that inhibits apoptosis.
When diseased cells produce molecules that activate death cascades, these molecules can affect neighboring healthy cells by disrupting the extracellular matrix or passing through gap junctions, resulting in their death as well. Natural killer cells work in concert with cytotoxic T cells against virally infected cells, and the negative regulatory molecule p53 can trigger apoptosis if vital cell cycle events do not occur.