Alternate cell-death program identified

Harvard University's Junying Yuan and colleagues identified a chemical that blocks a programmed cell-death pathway that is non-apoptotic.

| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

© 2005 Nature Publishing Group

Harvard University's Junying Yuan and colleagues identified a chemical that blocks a programmed cell-death pathway that is non-apoptotic. Yuan's study1 shows that the chemical, necrostatin-1 (Nec-1), has no effect on apoptosis, only on this programmed necrosis-like death, which her team calls "necroptosis."

Apoptosis is triggered when ligands bind to members of the Fas/TNFR (tumor necrosis factor receptor) family of death-domain receptors, which turns on multiple caspases. But, the Fas/TNFR family can induce cell death even when caspase signaling, and therefore apoptosis, is inhibited. This cell death usually resembles necrosis rather than apoptosis.

Yuan's team screened approximately 15,000 compounds, looking for inhibitors of an alternate death pathway. When human cells were treated with tumor necrosis factor-α (a ligand for the Fas/TNFR family) and a pan-caspase inhibitor, most cells died a necrosis-like death, but one small molecule, Nec-1, prevented cells from dying. Nec-1 inhibits TNF-α-induced necrosis in ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Melissa Lee Phillips

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
Image of small blue creatures called Nergals. Some have hearts above their heads, which signify friendship. There is one Nergal who is sneezing and losing health, which is denoted by minus one signs floating around it.
June 2025, Issue 1

Nergal Networks: Where Friendship Meets Infection

A citizen science game explores how social choices and networks can influence how an illness moves through a population.

View this Issue
Unraveling Complex Biology with Advanced Multiomics Technology

Unraveling Complex Biology with Five-Dimensional Multiomics

Element Bioscience Logo
Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Twist Bio 
The Scientist Placeholder Image

Seeing and Sorting with Confidence

BD
The Scientist Placeholder Image

Streamlining Microbial Quality Control Testing

MicroQuant™ by ATCC logo

Products

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Agilent Unveils the Next Generation in LC-Mass Detection: The InfinityLab Pro iQ Series

parse-biosciences-logo

Pioneering Cancer Plasticity Atlas will help Predict Response to Cancer Therapies

waters-logo

How Alderley Analytical are Delivering eXtreme Robustness in Bioanalysis