A decade of cell death studies: Breathing new life into necroptosis

Programmed cell death (PCD) has been a major area of constantly growing interest over the last three decades. Originally, apoptosis was considered the only mechanistic pathway for PCD, but recently several different pathways (i.e., necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis) have emerged as important in both normal and pathological conditions. This review focuses on programmed cell necrosis (i.e., necroptosis) as a promising research direction that will help us in understanding the molecular and cellular processes behind different pathological conditions, such as chronic inflammation, neurodegeneration, and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, we discuss natural and chemical compounds and novel targeted therapies triggering necroptosis to induce cell death in cancer cells to overcome chemoresistance. (c) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Programmed cell death (PCD) has been a major research interest in the past three decades. Initially, apoptosis was considered the only mechanistic pathway for PCD, but now other important pathways such as necroptosis have been discovered, which are crucial for understanding the cellular processes behind different pathological conditions. Additionally, research on triggering necroptosis in cancer cells to induce cell death and overcome chemoresistance is being discussed.