BioCentury
ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms

Necroptosis strikes again

Direct evidence of necroptosis in Alzheimer's

August 31, 2017 8:02 PM UTC

Adding to the list of necroptosis-related pathologies, a group from Arizona State University has shown the cell death pathway is activated in Alzheimer’s disease. The data, published last month in Nature Neuroscience, identify potential targets in the pathway and open the door to investigation of whether blocking necroptosis can complement therapeutic strategies aimed at upstream cytotoxic insults.

Necroptosis is a form of programmed cell death that is associated with inflammation and characterized by cell swelling and membrane rupture, in contrast to the DNA fragmentation and cell shrinkage that marks apoptosis. Necroptosis is driven by the activation and phosphorylation of three central signaling proteins: RIPK1, RIPK3 and MLKL. ...