Catching the cell death ‘culprit’
Necroptosis, a type of cell death associated with inflammation, has long been suspected as the ‘culprit’ driving many debilitating diseases associated with gut, skin, and lung conditions. However, identifying which cells undergo necroptosis in real-life situations has been difficult.
WEHI’s Dr Andre Samson, co-leader of the study, said the findings had cracked a challenging and hotly debated area of science.
“It is so exciting to finally be able to catch necroptosis in the act,” Dr Samson said.
The new methods precisely located necroptosis in patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, providing critical insights into how this cell death process contributes to various inflammatory diseases.
The findings further revealed that necroptosis responds not just to inflammation, but also to bacterial changes or immune issues.
“Among other results, we also found that when proteins like Caspase-8 cluster together in cells, it’s a sign of necroptosis,” Dr Samson said.
“This is a major leap forward in our journey to eventually delivering new medicines that can treat a long list of inflammatory diseases by stopping necroptosis.
“It helps us understand when and where necroptosis happens, both in healthy and disease situations.”