Immunohistological tools to discriminate apoptotic and necrotic cell death in the skin

Perturbances in skin homeostasis are responsible for the development of skin inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis or atopic dermatitis. While the role of apoptosis has been extensively studied in the skin, the role of the newly described programmed necrosis also termed necroptosis in human skin remains poorly understood. We have recently described a mouse model of skin inflammation dependent on necroptotic cell death. Here we describe an immunohistological protocol allowing for the discrimination of apoptotic from necroptotic cell death in a single staining procedure on tissue sections.