Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine

Eukaryotic cells undergo death by several different mechanisms: apoptosis, a cell death that prevents inflammatory response; necrosis, when the cell membrane lyses and all the intracellular content is spilled outside; and pyroptosis, a cell death that is accompanied by the release of inflammatory cytokines by the dying cells. Pyroptosis is designed to attract a nonspecific innate response to the site of infection or tumor. In this chapter, we describe the methods used to study pyroptosis in a mammalian cell. The model organism used is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which suppresses pyroptosis by macrophages, and possibly in dendritic cells.