Abstract
MAMMALIAN cell death, observed as deterioration of cellular structure or function, has not been characterised at the molecular level. We report here that human and rodent cells treated with several diverse agents which cause cell death as measured by other criteria, had similar distinct patterns of DNA degradation as assayed by alkaline sucrose gradient techniques. The degradation results from cellular metabolism, not from the initial damage produced by the agents. The similarity of the patterns in our results and those of others in a wide range of cell systems suggests that this degradation may be a general mechanism concomitant with, if not a precedent of, mammalian cell death.
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WILLIAMS, J., LITTLE, J. & SHIPLEY, W. Association of mammalian cell death with a specific endonucleolytic degradation of DNA. Nature 252, 754–755 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/252754a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/252754a0
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