The pantheon of the fallen: why are there so many forms of cell death?

Abstract

Cells die by various mechanisms, only some of which have been elucidated in detail. Numerous 'active' forms of cell death exist in which the cell participates in its own death, including apoptosis, programmed necrosis, mitotic catastrophe, and the recently described ferroptosis. Here, we attempt to explain why there are so many different forms of cell death, and propose a distinction between active death that constitutes 'suicide' versus 'sabotage'.