Promoting apoptosis in disease management: a panacea or Trojan horse?

In our enthusiasm to advocate apoptosis as a therapeutic strategy for the management of disease we need to be mindful that the clearance of apoptotic cells is itself immunomodulatory and that it may not always be as benign or beneficial as we think. Indeed, the existence of free apoptotic cells in s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current opinion in pharmacology 2005-08, Vol.5 (4), p.444-448
Main Authors: Brown, Simon B, Vernon-Wilson, Elizabeth F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Apoptosis - immunology
Autoimmunity - immunology
Humans
Inflammation - immunology
Macrophages - immunology
Neoplasms - immunology
Phagocytosis - immunology
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Summary:In our enthusiasm to advocate apoptosis as a therapeutic strategy for the management of disease we need to be mindful that the clearance of apoptotic cells is itself immunomodulatory and that it may not always be as benign or beneficial as we think. Indeed, the existence of free apoptotic cells in situ may potentially be pathological, and not necessarily physiological, and any attempt to promote apoptosis in the absence of an appropriate phagocytic response for the treatment of, for example, inflammation or cancer might exacerbate or initiate an autoimmune pathology.
ISSN:1471-4892
1471-4973
DOI:10.1016/j.coph.2005.02.005