Preface: Mechanisms of Cell Death 2000 (original) (raw)

Cell Death: History and Future

Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 2008

Cell death was observed and understood since the 19th century, but there was no experimental examination until the mid-20th century. Beginning in the 1960s, several laboratories demonstrated that cell death was biologically controlled (programmed) and that the morphology was common and not readily explained (apoptosis). By 1990, the genetic basis of programmed cell death had been established, and the first components of the cell death machinery (caspase 3, bcl-2, and Fas) had been identified, sequenced, and recognized as highly conserved in evolution. The rapid development of the field has given us substantial understanding of how cell death is achieved. However, this knowledge has made it possible for us to understand that there are multiple pathways to death and that the commitment to die is not the same as execution. A cell that has passed the commitment stage but is blocked from undergoing apoptosis will die by another route. We still must learn much more about how a cell commits to death and what makes it choose a path to die.

Mechanistic paradigms of cell death - revisited

Journal of Environmental Biology, 2021

Present review is the description of a journey that originates from Virchows' cell theory and terminates with the role of molecular switches in cell death recently proposed by Orrenius. Landmark discoveries made, in between, to characterize regulated as well as accidental cell death have also been documented. It embraces the studies that were made in early nineties to understand cellular homeostasis in health and disease. Furthermore, the effects of foreign chemicals on different cell types witnessed in late nineties have been classified into necrosis, apoptosis, autophagy etc. Since it is important to know how a cell dies, studies made in our own and other laboratories on the role of reactive oxygen species, oxidative stress, intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis, redox imbalance, mitochondrial and ER stress in cell death have also been reviewed. Possibility of a cross talk amongst these mechanisms has also been examined. It discusses the impact of wonder molecules like CYP450, GSH, m...

Cell Death and Its Different Modes: History of Understanding and Current Trends

International Journal of Biochemistry Research & Review, 2019

Discussions about what is life continue to struggle; there are pros and cons for whether a virus is alive. However, an opposite thing – cell death – appears to be tantamount important and equally not-easygoing to define. Nevertheless, our current knowledge about eukaryotic cell death has made a long way and resulted in a fruitful outcome: starting from three types of cell death (type I, II and III which are mainly applicable to eukaryotic cells of organisms from the biological kingdom animalia) in 1970s, Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death has named already twelve cell death forms in 2018, including the above mentioned apoptosis, autophagy and necrosis among them. How the scientific attitude towards cellular demise evolved and various aspects of different cell death modes are reviewed in this article.