Chapter 4 - Major methods and technologies for assessing cell death

Abstract

Cell death is a complex process, in which different signaling pathways can lead to morphologically and biochemically distinct outcomes. The existence of multiple pathways for cell death necessitates the development of different methods for identification and assessment. In this chapter, we examine the classical methods as well as emerging technologies for the detection and quantification of apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy. We first discuss methods that allow the observation of morphological changes during cell death. We then describe and compare the array of different biochemical assays for each specific type of cell death. Finally, we highlight our novel imaging technologies that combine morphological and biochemical characterizations in order to enable in vivo studies of apoptotic signaling events. We anticipate that the application of novel methods to assess cell death may lead to new discoveries.