| Popis: |
Cell death is critical for diverse physiological processes and dysregulation of cell death mechanisms is implicated in various pathological conditions such as cancer and neurodegenerative disease. Due to the existence of numerous cell death modalities, the precise identification and characterization of cell death-related events in cells and tissues is critical for understanding disease pathogenesis and designing effective therapeutic strategies. The experimental procedures to identify dead and dying cells differ from one another with regard to (1) specificity (i.e., clear-cut distinction has to be made between ‘general’ and ‘cell death-type specific’ techniques); (2) sensitivity; (3) precision (i.e., cell death-related parameters can be detected in a qualitative, semiquantitative, or quantitative fashion); (4) throughput (which range from low, as for electron microscopy-based methods, to high, as in automated procedures); (5) cell death stage (meaning that biochemical processes belonging either to the induction/initiation, integration/decision, or execution/degradation phases of the cell death cascade can be specifically quantified); and (6) cell death parameter (i.e., morphological vs. biochemical). This article reviews some of the techniques to monitor two important cell death-related processes: apoptosis and autophagy with an emphasis on immunohistochemical detection techniques. |
