Caught in action - The death of cells

Recently, scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (in Melbourne, Australia) were able to visualize the key changes that take place in the cell before it dies. The new findings will help to provide key details into cell death and could lead to specialized medicines in order to control this.

Cell Death, called apoptosis, is important to control the number of cells in the body and begins by extracellular signals, from hormones or toxins that cross the cell membrane to cause a response in the cell. This causes proteins in the cell to become active and break down cellular components needed for survival of a cell including DNA in the nucleus. The cell then shrinks and sends out distress signals that are answered by macrophages, which clean away the shrunken cells.

One of the key proteins Bax was known to have a key role in apoptosis but was just recently viewed at the Australian Synchrotron (a radiation facility in Melbourne) which used powerful x-ray beams to create detailed three-dimensional images of Bax moving from its inactive state to its active. The active state ruptures Mitochondrial membrane effectively punching holes in the mitochondrial walls, removing the cells energy and causing it to die.

This new discovery may help scientists to find a way to block Bax activation in order to prevent excessive cell death, which can cause neurodegenerative conditions, or to increase and stimulate cell death in order to treat cancer cells.

The study led by Dr Czabotar hopes to continue its research in order to find out more about the peptides responsible for Bax activation, with their recent findings being published in Cell Journal.