Assessment of Cell Death: Apoptosis, Necrosis, or In Between

Cell death and cell survival are the fundamental events in development and pathological conditions associated with virtually all disorders in the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). Assessment of cell death and identification of the type of cell death are critical for understanding the mechanism of the injury and for development of therapeutic treatment of diseases. Recent development in cellular and molecular biological discoveries has allowed better characterization of different cell death including necrosis, apoptosis, and autophagic death and development of numerous cell death assays. This chapter intends to introduce some common characteristics of different types of cell death and the most basic principle of assessments. Emerging evidence also show that sometimes it is difficult to separate different cell death mechanisms, and mixed cell death often is observed under in vivo situation. We hope the content of this chapter will help readers to better understand and develop novel ideas of cell death in diseases.