Cells can die either through necrosis or apoptosis. Necrosis is unplanned cell death that is usually triggered by toxic stress or profound cellular damage. It can affect surrounding cells, and it is usually accompanied by an inflammatory response.1 Apoptosis, on the other hand, is a normal, planned, and regulated event that leads to morphological changes hours after the cell biochemically commits itself to this pathway.2 During apoptosis, the nucleus condenses and breaks down (karyorrhexis), phosphatidylserine (PS) is exposed to the extracellular media, targeting cells for removal, and the cell shrinks and fragments into membrane-bound apoptotic bodies that are rapidly taken up by macrophages.1-3 Some cells detach from surrounding tissue to help their removal.2
Several techniques used to measure cytotoxicity, necrosis, and apoptosis have recently been discussed in The Scientist.1 However, this field has been expanding so rapidly--MEDLINE counted 6,700 articles including the word "apoptosis" in the year 2000 alone--that the ...
