MSK describes a new form of cell death: baciptosis

Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) described a new form of programmed cell death, which they named baciptosis. In one mode of interaction between the proteins BAK and BAX, mitochondrial DNA enters the cytosol. When caspases are not activated, this process triggers an inflammatory response and contributes to an energy failure that leads to cell death.

The scientists also showed that baciptosis can be induced in human cancer cells with impaired caspase activation. The findings broaden understanding of cell-death mechanisms and their relationship to the immune response. The research may be relevant to cancer therapy, but does not in itself mean that a new treatment method has emerged.

Image: Wikimedia Commons Public domain

Translation editor: Ловушкин А.