Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 26, 2026

Live-cell Imaging of Lysosomal Membrane Permeabilization During Necroptosis
05:30

Live-cell Imaging of Lysosomal Membrane Permeabilization During Necroptosis

Published on: November 14, 2025

482

Necroptosis: (Last) Message in a Bubble

Peter Vandenabeele1, Franck Riquet2, Benjamin Cappe3

  • 1Molecular Signaling and Cell Death Unit, VIB Inflammation Research Center, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Methusalem Program, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.

Immunity
|July 21, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Receptor-interacting protein kinase 3 (RIPK3) triggers necroptosis by phosphorylating mixed lineage kinase domain-like pseudokinase (MLKL). MLKL also regulates membrane trafficking and bubble formation during necroptosis through ESCRT interactions.

Area of Science:

  • Cellular biology
  • Molecular biology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Necroptosis is a regulated form of cell death.
  • RIPK3-mediated phosphorylation of MLKL is a key event in necroptosis execution.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the role of MLKL beyond its function as a necroptosis executioner.
  • To investigate the interaction of MLKL with cellular machinery during necroptosis.

Main Methods:

  • The study references two independent reports (Yoon et al., 2017; Gong et al., 2017).
  • Methods likely involved molecular biology and cell imaging techniques to study protein interactions and cellular events.

Main Results:

  • MLKL plays a role in homeostatic membrane trafficking.
  • MLKL is involved in necroptosis-enhanced bubble formation.
  • MLKL interacts with the Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport (ESCRT) machinery.

Conclusions:

  • MLKL has multifaceted roles in cellular processes, including both necroptosis execution and membrane trafficking.
  • The interaction between MLKL and the ESCRT machinery is crucial for necroptotic membrane dynamics.

More Related Videos

Characterization of MLKL-mediated Plasma Membrane Rupture in Necroptosis08:55

Characterization of MLKL-mediated Plasma Membrane Rupture in Necroptosis

Published on: August 7, 2018

11.4K
Characterizing Extracellular Vesicles from Biological Fluids05:07

Characterizing Extracellular Vesicles from Biological Fluids

Published on: February 28, 2025

932

Related Concept Videos

The Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathway01:17

The Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathway

The extrinsic apoptotic pathway is initiated when extracellular death-inducing signals, such as specific cytokines, activate the death receptors expressed on the cell surface. The immune cells involved in this pathway are natural killer cells (NK cells) and cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. NK cells are critical in innate immune response, while cytotoxic T-lymphocytes are associated with adaptive immune response. These cells recognize specific receptors expressed on the altered cells and activate...
9.0K
Necrosis01:16

Necrosis

Necrosis is considered as an “accidental” or unexpected form of cell death that ends in cell lysis. The first noticeable mention of “necrosis” was in 1859 when Rudolf Virchow used this term to describe advanced tissue breakdown in his compilation titled “Cell Pathology”.
Morphological Manifestations of Necrosis
Necrotic cells show different types of morphological appearance depending on the type of tissue and infection. In coagulative necrosis, cells become...
6.8K
Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane01:26

Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane

Proteins and neurotransmitters in secretory vesicles can be released from a cell upon vesicle docking, priming, and fusion with the plasma membrane. Vesicles are docked and primed in preparation for the quick exocytosis of their contents in response to a stimulus. The fusion process is mainly carried out by a SNAP Receptor or SNARE complex, consisting of synaptobrevin, syntaxin-1, and SNAP-25.
In 1993, Jim Rothman proposed that the antiparallel pairing of vesicular and transmembrane SNAREs, or...
19.1K
Overview of Cell Death01:30

Overview of Cell Death

Cell death is an essential process where the body gets rid of old or damaged cells. Cell proliferation and death need to be balanced, as an imbalance between the two may lead to cancer or autoimmune diseases.
Cell death was observed in the early 19th century, but there was no experimental evidence to prove it. In 1842, Carl Vogt first discovered cell death in a metamorphic toad; however, it was not termed ‘cell death.’ Scientists discovered different cell death pathways only in the...
10.6K
Receptor Downregulation in MVBs01:15

Receptor Downregulation in MVBs

Multivesicular bodies (MVBs) are mature endosomes that sort ubiquitinated proteins and then fuse with lysosomes to degrade the sorted proteins. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and its receptor (EGFR) form a complex that can be internalized through endocytosis, sorted into an MVB, and later degraded.
The EGFR can initiate signaling pathways that  lead to cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Overexpression of EGFR  stimulates cells to proliferate. Excessive  EGFR...
2.9K
ER Retrieval Pathway01:45

ER Retrieval Pathway

In the secretory pathway, vesicles transport proteins from one cellular compartment to another in forward transport to deliver the protein to its correct location. Occasionally, misfolded proteins and incorrect proteins escape their original compartments, and a retrieval pathway is used to return the escaped proteins to their original compartment.
The ER uses many checkpoints to prevent the entry of incorrectly folded or a resident protein as cargo onto a transport vesicle. These mechanisms...
4.9K