Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025

Evaluation of Caspase Activation to Assess Innate Immune Cell Death
Published on: January 20, 2023
Assessment of eIF2α phosphorylation during immunogenic cell death
Lucillia Bezu1, Juliette Humeau2, Marion Leduc3
1Service anesthésie, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France; Metabolomics and Cell Biology Platforms, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France; Equipe labellisée par la Ligue contre le cancer, Université de Paris, Sorbonne Université, INSERM UMR1138, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Paris, France.
Abstract:
Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a modality of cellular demise that when it is induced by certain anticancer treatments can ignite an adaptive anticancer immune response. ICD is characterized by the emission of a specific set of danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) including calreticulin exposure at the plasma membrane, ATP liberation, HMGB1 exodus and type-I IFN release. The apical signaling triggering the appearance of these hallmarks involves the phosphorylation on serine 51 of the α-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (EIF2), a key protein in the orchestration of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress responses. EIF2α can be phosphorylated by a family of four EIF2A kinases: EIF2AK1-4 (best known as heme regulated inhibitor, HRI, protein kinase R, PKR, protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase, PERK, and general control non-derepressible 2, GCN2), that each respond to a specific type of cellular stress. Here, we describe different techniques to investigate the biochemical pathways leading to eIF2α phosphorylation in the context of ICD.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
The Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
Overview of Cell Death
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...
Phagocytosis of Apoptotic Cells
Normal cells contain receptors that prevent them from being recognized...
Autophagic Cell Death
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and...
Cells of the Innate Immune Response
Phagocytes
Phagocytes police the peripheral tissues by removing cellular debris and responding to the invasion of foreign substances or pathogens. Many phagocytes attack and remove microorganisms even before lymphocytes detect them. The human body has two general...
The Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway

