AIF-Mediated Programmed Necrosis: A Highly Orchestrated Way to Die
- 1 November 2007
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Cell Cycle
- Vol. 6 (21) , 2612-2619
- https://doi.org/10.4161/cc.6.21.4842
Abstract
Historically, two main forms of cell death have been distinguished: apoptosis and necrosis. Apoptosis was initially considered as the only physiological and programmed form of cell death. This type of death is recurrently associated with caspases, a family of cysteine proteases activated in apoptotic conditions. However, it is now widely recognized that programmed cell death (PCD) can also occur in the complete absence of caspase activation. The existence of non-caspase PCD pathways was corroborated by the discovery of caspase-independent executioners, such as the mitochondrial protein Apoptosis-Inducing Factor (AIF). Necrosis has often been viewed as an accidental and uncontrolled cell death process. Nevertheless, increasing evidence shows that, like apoptosis, necrosis could be a highly regulated type of PCD. Indeed, apoptosis and necrosis present more similarities than it has been originally thought. Here, we summarize the different classifications of PCD and the current knowledge of a necrotic PCD pat...Keywords
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