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Published on: August 26, 2021
Current and emerging biomarkers of cell death in human disease
Kongning Li1, Deng Wu1, Xi Chen1
1College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China.
Abstract:
Cell death is a critical biological process, serving many important functions within multicellular organisms. Aberrations in cell death can contribute to the pathology of human diseases. Significant progress made in the research area enormously speeds up our understanding of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of cell death. According to the distinct morphological and biochemical characteristics, cell death can be triggered by extrinsic or intrinsic apoptosis, regulated necrosis, autophagic cell death, and mitotic catastrophe. Nevertheless, the realization that all of these efforts seek to pursue an effective treatment and cure for the disease has spurred a significant interest in the development of promising biomarkers of cell death to early diagnose disease and accurately predict disease progression and outcome. In this review, we summarize recent knowledge about cell death, survey current and emerging biomarkers of cell death, and discuss the relationship with human diseases.
Insights
Cell death, including apoptosis and necrosis, is vital in multicellular organisms but aberrant in disease. New biomarkers for cell death are crucial for early diagnosis and effective disease treatment.
Area of Science:
- Cell biology
- Molecular biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Cell death is a fundamental biological process in multicellular organisms.
- Dysregulation of cell death pathways contributes to various human diseases.
- Understanding cell death mechanisms is key to developing disease treatments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current knowledge on cell death mechanisms.
- To survey existing and novel biomarkers of cell death.
- To discuss the implications of cell death in human diseases.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of cell death research.
- Analysis of distinct cell death modalities (apoptosis, necrosis, etc.).
- Survey of cell death biomarkers and their clinical relevance.
Main Results:
- Identified key cell death pathways: extrinsic/intrinsic apoptosis, regulated necrosis, autophagic cell death, mitotic catastrophe.
- Highlighted the importance of cell death biomarkers for disease diagnosis and prognosis.
- Established the link between cell death aberrations and human disease pathology.
Conclusions:
- Continued research into cell death mechanisms is essential.
- Development of reliable cell death biomarkers will advance disease management.
- Targeting cell death pathways offers therapeutic potential for various diseases.
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