Apoptosis is programmed cell death that plays a crucial role in growth, development, aging, and disease. It involves a series of caspase activations, which orchestrate the cellular morphological changes that characterize this type of cell death. Apoptosis is distinguished by several characteristics, including cell shrinkage, membrane blebbing, chromosomal condensation, nuclear disintegration, DNA laddering, and the cell's eventual engulfment by phagosomes.

This Methods Collection aims to demonstrate standardized procedures for identifying and differentiating various types of cell death, such as apoptosis, necroptosis, and autophagy. The collection includes state-of-the-art cell and molecular biology techniques like confocal imaging, flow cytometry, tissue immunostaining, and NUCVIEW to study the cell death process. These efforts provide broader access to existing methods and lower the threshold for researchers interested in cell biology and signaling studies.