1. ¹INSERM, U848, Villejuif F-94805, France
2. ²Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif F-94805, France
3. ³Université Paris Sud-XI, Villejuif F-94805, France
4. ⁴Department for Molecular Biology, Gent University, Gent B-9052, Belgium
5. ⁵Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, VIB, Gent B-9052, Belgium
6. ⁶Department of Cell Biology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
7. ⁷Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Center for Apoptosis Research, Kimmel Cancer Institute, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
8. ⁸Department of Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
9. ⁹Cancer Center, Ordway Research Institute, Albany, NY 12208, USA
10. ¹⁰Hematology-Oncology Division, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
11. ¹¹Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy, Marseille F-13288, France
12. ¹²CNRS, U631, Marseille F-13288, France
13. ¹³INSERM, UMR612, Marseille F-13288, France
14. ¹⁴Department of Immunology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA
15. ¹⁵Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Zurich, Zurich CH-8057, Switzerland
16. ¹⁶Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 3JH, UK
17. ¹⁷Hanson Institute, IMVS, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
18. ¹⁸Burnham Institute for Medical Research, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
19. ¹⁹The Salk Institute, San Diego, CA 92186, USA
20. ²⁰University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
21. ²¹Department of Therapeutic Research and Medicines Evaluation, Section of Cell Aging and Degeneration, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome I-00161, Italy
22. ²²University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
23. ²³Ben May Department for Cancer Research, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
24. ²⁴Department of Biochemistry, University of Lausanne, Epalinges CH-1066, Switzerland
25. ²⁵Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
26. ²⁶Laboratory of Cell Biology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases IRCCS 'L Spallanzani', Rome I-00149, Italy
27. ²⁷Department of Biology, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Rome I-00133, Italy
28. ²⁸Division of Toxicology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm SE-17111, Sweden
29. ²⁹Department of Experimental Medicine and Biochemical Sciences, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Rome I-00133, Italy
30. ³⁰Toxicology Unit, Medical Research Council, Leicester University, Leicester LE1 9HN, UK

Correspondence: G Kroemer, INSERM U848, Institut Gustave Roussy, Pavillon de Recherche 1, 39 rue Camille Desmoulins, Villejuif F-94805, France. Tel: +33 1 42 11 60 46; Fax: +33 1 42 11 60 47; E-mail: kroemer@igr.fr

Received 3 July 2008; Revised 29 August 2008; Accepted 11 September 2008; Published online 10 October 2008.

Abstract

Different types of cell death are often defined by morphological criteria, without a clear reference to precise biochemical mechanisms. The Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) proposes unified criteria for the definition of cell death and of its different morphologies, while formulating several caveats against the misuse of words and concepts that slow down progress in the area of cell death research. Authors, reviewers and editors of scientific periodicals are invited to abandon expressions like 'percentage apoptosis' and to replace them with more accurate descriptions of the biochemical and cellular parameters that are actually measured. Moreover, at the present stage, it should be accepted that caspase-independent mechanisms can cooperate with (or substitute for) caspases in the execution of lethal signaling pathways and that 'autophagic cell death' is a type of cell death occurring together with (but not necessarily by) autophagic vacuolization. This study details the 2009 recommendations of the NCCD on the use of cell death-related terminology including 'entosis', 'mitotic catastrophe', 'necrosis', 'necroptosis' and 'pyroptosis'.