GO:0097191

A series of molecular signals in which a signal is conveyed from the cell surface to trigger the apoptotic death of a cell. The pathway starts with either a ligand binding to a cell surface receptor, or a ligand being withdrawn from a cell surface receptor (e.g. in the case of signaling by dependence receptors), and ends when the execution phase of apoptosis is triggered. [GOC:mtg_apoptosis, GOC:yaf, PMID:17340152]