"(Not) all (dead) things share the same breath": identification of cell death mechanisms in anticancer therapy.
During the last decades, the knowledge of cell death mechanisms involved in anticancer therapy has grown exponentially. However, in many studies, cell death is still described in an incomplete manner. The frequent use of indirect proliferation assays, unspecific probes, or bulk analyses leads too often to misunderstandings regarding cell death events. There is a trend to focus on molecular or genetic regulations of cell demise without a proper characterization of the phenotype that is the object of this study. Sometimes, cancer researchers can feel overwhelmed or confused when faced with such a corpus of detailed insights, nomenclature rules, and debates about the accuracy of a particular probe or assay. On the basis of the information available, we propose a simple guide to distinguish forms of cell death in experimental settings using cancer cell lines.
Sarcoma Research Group, Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
Santiago
S
Rello-Varona
Sarcoma Research Group, Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
David
D
Herrero-Martín
Sarcoma Research Group, Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
Roser
R
López-Alemany
Cell Death Regulation Group, Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. omartinez@idibell.org cmunoz@idibell.cat.
Cristina
C
Muñoz-Pinedo
Sarcoma Research Group, Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. omartinez@idibell.org cmunoz@idibell.cat.
Oscar M
OM
Tirado
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents