Introduction—cell death in heart failure

Excerpt

In the not too distant past, most cell death was thought to occur by “accident” rather than through deliberate cell suicide. It has become increasingly clear that the cell is often an active participant in its own demise. The recognition that cell death is actively mediated has raised the exciting possibility that it may be manipulated to therapeutic advantage. In cancer, where defective cell death often contributes to tumorigenesis, the goal would be to induce certain cells to die [1]. Conversely, in disorders such as myocardial infarction, heart failure, stroke, and some neurodegenerative diseases, where excessive cell death occurs, the objective would be to promote cell survival. Although disease mechanisms are inevitably more complex than this simple formulation, animal work over the past 15 years has provided proof of principle that cell death is an important causal component of a variety of disorders. This, in turn, has provided the conceptual basis for therapies directed at increasing or decreasing cell death. …