Monitoring of Programmed cell Death in Vivo and in Vitro,—New and Old Methods of Cancer Therapy Assessment

Abstract

Cells can die either by apoptosis, necrosis or by a form of cell death that displays morphologic characteristics of both forms (Los et al., 2002; Proskuryakov et al, 2002; Sreedhar & Csermely, 2004). Furthermore, both necrosis (where the cell membrane loses its integrity and the cell contents are released causing an inflammatory response) and apoptosis (where the cell content remains "well-packed" in the apoptotic bodies and inflammation does not occur): (i) can be caused by related (patho)-physiological stimuli; (ii) can be partially prevented by anti-apoptotic mechanisms; and (iii) can shift from one form to the other (Los et al., 2002). Thus, depending on which form of cell death prevails, an appropriate detection method should be chosen that accurately detects and quantifies the process. Furthermore, some methods will detect only one form of cell death, whereas other methods are not able to distinguish between different forms. Anticancer drugs may not necessarily induce classical apoptosis in cancer cells. In addition, some components of the apoptotic machinery may participate in processes .