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    Cell Death tagged posts

    A missing piece in the cell death and inflammation signaling pathway puzzle has been revealed

    October 1, 2026, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    One of the final pieces in the cell death and inflammation signalling pathway puzzle has been revealed
    Scheme of the inflammation signalling pathway. Credit: Henning Walczak/Universität zu Köln

    An international research team has discovered a previously unknown mechanism that plays a key role in the signaling pathways involved in programmed cell death. The team identified the protein HERC4 as an essential component of both TNF-induced necroptosis and apoptosis pathways—two processes that play a crucial role in maintaining cellular balance and triggering inflammatory responses.

    The study, “HERC4-mediated ubiquitination licenses RIPK1 to initiate TNF-induced cell death,” was published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. The lead researchers were Dr...

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    Rapid Blood Test identifies COVID-19 patients at high risk of severe disease

    January 20, 2021, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    WANDY BEATTYA new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that measuring mitochondrial DNA in the blood of patients with COVID-19 can help predict which patients are at highest risk of severe disease, requiring more intensive care. Mitochondrial DNA levels are a measure of tissue damage. Pictured are damaged mitochondria (dark grey areas) released from human lungs. The small dark dots surrounding the mitochondria are magnetic beads that carry antibodies used to isolate and study unhealthy mitochondria that have been released from dying tissues.

    Measuring mitochondrial DNA could predict who will need ICU care, intubation...

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    How Trans Fats Assist Cell Death

    March 27, 2020, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Trans-Fatty acids facilitate DNA damage-induced apoptosis through the mitochondrial JNK-Sab-ROS positive feedback loop
    Authors: Yusuke Hirata, Aya Inoue, Saki Suzuki, Miki Takahashi, Ryo Matsui, Nozomu Kono, Takuya Noguchi, and Atsushi Matsuzawa
    Journal: Scientific Reports
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-59636-6

    Tohoku University researchers in Japan have uncovered a molecular link between some trans fats and a variety of disorders, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Their findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, implicate their role in enhancing a mitochondrial signalling pathway that leads to programmed cell death.

    “Accumulating evidence has associated the consumption of trans-fatty acids with various diseases, including some lifestyle d...

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