Predictors of fall risk in older adults using the G-STRIDE inertial sensor: an observational multicenter case-control study.

BACKGROUND: There are a lot of tools to use for fall assessment, but there is not yet one that predicts the risk of falls in the elderly. This study aims to evaluate the use of the G-STRIDE prototype in the analysis of fall risk, defining the cut-off points to predict the risk of falling and developing a predictive model that allows discriminating between subjects with and without fall risks and those at risk of future falls. METHODS: An observational, multicenter case-control study was conducted with older people coming from two different public hospitals and three different nursing homes. We gathered clinical variables ( Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), Standardized Frailty Criteria, Speed 4 m walk, Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I), Time-Up Go Test, and Global Deterioration Scale (GDS)) and measured gait kinematics using an inertial measure unit (IMU). We performed a logistic regression model using a training set of observations (70% of the participants) to predict the probability of falls. RESULTS: A total of 163 participants were included, 86 people with gait and balance disorders or falls and 77 without falls; 67,8% were females, with a mean age of 82,63 ± 6,01 years. G-STRIDE made it possible to measure gait parameters under normal living conditions. There are 46 cut-off values of conventional clinical parameters and those estimated with the G-STRIDE solution. A logistic regression mixed model, with four conventional and 2 kinematic variables allows us to identify people at risk of falls showing good predictive value with AUC of 77,6% (sensitivity 0,773 y specificity 0,780). In addition, we could predict the fallers in the test group (30% observations not in the model) with similar performance to conventional methods. CONCLUSIONS: The G-STRIDE IMU device allows to predict the risk of falls using a mixed model with an accuracy of 0,776 with similar performance to conventional model. This approach allows better precision, low cost and less infrastructures for an early intervention and prevention of future falls.

Next generation of selenocyanate and diselenides with upgraded leishmanicidal activity.

Nowadays, leishmaniasis is still treated with outdated drugs that present several obstacles related to their high toxicity, long duration, parenteral administration, high costs and drug resistance. Therefore, there is an urgent demand for safer and more effective novel drugs. Previous studies indicated that selenium compounds are promising derivatives for innovative therapy in leishmaniasis treatment. With this background, a new library of 20 selenocyanate and diselenide derivatives were designed based on structural features present in the leishmanicidal drug miltefosine. Compounds were initially screened against promastigotes of L. major and L. infantum and their cytotoxicity was evaluated in THP-1 cells. Compounds B8 and B9 were the most potent and less cytotoxic and were further screened for the intracellular back transformation assay. The results obtained revealed that B8 and B9 showed EC50 values of 7.7 µM and 5.7 µM, respectively, in L. major amastigotes, while they presented values of 6.0 µM and 7.4 µM, respectively, against L. infantum amastigotes. Furthermore, they exerted high selectivity (60 < SI > 70) towards bone marrow-derived macrophages. Finally, these compounds exhibited higher TryR inhibitory activity than mepacrine (IC50 7.6 and 9.2 µM, respectively), and induced nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in macrophages. These results suggest that the compounds B8 and B9 could not only exert a direct leishmanicidal activity against the parasite but also present an indirect action by activating the microbicidal arsenal of the macrophage. Overall, these new generation of diselenides could constitute promising leishmanicidal drug candidates for further studies.

Identification of 1,2,3-triazolium salt-based inhibitors of Leishmania infantum trypanothione disulfide reductase with enhanced antileishmanial potency in cellulo and increased selectivity.

N-methylation of the triazole moiety present in our recently described triazole-phenyl-thiazole dimerization disruptors of Leishmania infantum trypanothione disulfide reductase (LiTryR) led to a new class of potent inhibitors that target different binding sites on this enzyme. Subtle structural changes among representative library members modified their mechanism of action, switching from models of classical competitive inhibition to time-dependent mixed noncompetitive inhibition. X-ray crystallography and molecular modeling results provided a rationale for this distinct behavior. The remarkable potency and selectivity improvements, particularly against intracellular amastigotes, of the LiTryR dimerization disruptors 4c and 4d reveal that they could be exploited as leishmanicidal agents. Of note, L. infantum promastigotes treated with 4c significantly reduced their low-molecular-weight thiol content, thus providing additional evidence that LiTryR is the main target of this novel compound.

Evaluation of new Toxocara canis chimeric antigens as an alternative to conventional TES-Ag for anti-Toxocara antibodies detection.

Human toxocariasis is one of the neglected helminthiases and it is caused by the zoonotic roundworm species Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati. Diagnosis of human toxocariasis is based on the combination of clinical, parasitological, and epidemiological criteria, as well as serology tests that detect anti-Toxocara antibodies. Notwithstanding, due to the absence of pathognomonic symptoms and signs of the disease, serology is the key evidence to support a conclusive diagnosis. TES-ELISA is the most widely used serological test for diagnosis. However, cross-reaction of TES antigens with antibodies produced to other helminth antigens is a major drawback for its application in countries with high parasitic prevalence. T. canis recombinant antigens have been described as an alternative to native TES for diagnosis. Nevertheless, the selection of antigenic proteins is a complex process that requires validation. In this paper, we developed an eGFP carrier-based system to express and purify blocks of recombinant polypeptides of T. canis antigenic proteins. Intense cross-reaction polypeptides were detected by Immunoblot and avoided to finally produce a chimeric prototype protein. Additionally, a control chimeric protein that harbors the complete tested proteins was produced. Purified chimeric antigens were tested in ELISA and Immunoblot assays with 310 sera samples of negative and positive control individuals. Our results showed that chimeric rCHITC0 and rCHITC1 antigens (with sensitivities of 62% 58%, 38% and 16% in IB-rCHITC0, ELISA-rCHITC0, ELISA-rCHITC1 and IB-rCHITC1 respectively for OLMS) can perform better in terms of specificity (being 91%, 89%, 87% and 76% for ELISA-rCHITC1, IB-rCHITC1, ELISA-rCHITC0 and IB-rCHITC0 respectively for OLMS) than T. canis TES-ELISA (with 61% specificity), giving a higher signal with serum samples of infected individuals as well the possibility to discriminate false positive cases with other parasitic infections. Our data suggest that T. canis chimeric proteins, represent candidate antigens for phase II studies.

Identification of L. infantum trypanothione synthetase inhibitors with leishmanicidal activity from a (non-biased) in-house chemical library.

Redox homeostasis in trypanosomatids is based on the low-molecular-weight trypanothione, an essential dithiol molecule that is synthetized by trypanothione synthetase (TryS) and maintained in its reduced state by trypanothione disulfide reductase (TryR). The fact that both enzymes are indispensable for parasite survival and absent in the mammalian hosts makes them ideal drug targets against leishmaniasis. Although many efforts have been directed to developing TryR inhibitors, much less attention has been focused on TryS. The screening of an in-house library of 144 diverse molecules using two parallel biochemical assays allowed us to detect 13 inhibitors of L. infantum TryS. Compounds 1 and 3 were characterized as competitive inhibitors with Ki values in the low micromolar range and plausible binding modes for them were identified by automated ligand docking against refined protein structures obtained through computational simulation of an entire catalytic cycle. The proposed binding site for both inhibitors overlaps the polyamine site in the enzyme and, additionally, 1 also occupies part of the ATP site. Compound 4 behaves as a mixed hyperbolic inhibitor with a Ki of 0.8 µM. The activity of 5 is clearly dependent on the concentration of the polyamine substrate, but its kinetic behavior is clearly not compatible with a competitive mode of inhibition. Analysis of the activity of the six best inhibitors against intracellular amastigotes identified 5 as the most potent leishmanicidal candidate, with an EC50 value of 0.6 µM and a selectivity index of 35.

Pyridazino-pyrrolo-quinoxalinium salts as highly potent and selective leishmanicidal agents targeting trypanothione reductase.

Fifteen pyridazino-pyrrolo-quinoxalinium salts were synthesized and tested for their antiprotozoal activity against Leishmania infantum amastigotes. Eleven of them turned out to be leishmanicidal, with EC50 values in the nanomolar range, and displayed low toxicity against the human THP-1 cell line. Selectivity indices for these compounds range from 10 to more than 1000. Compounds 3b and 3f behave as potent inhibitors of the oxidoreductase activity of the essential enzyme trypanothione disulfide reductase (TryR). Interestingly, binding of 3f is not affected by high trypanothione concentrations, as revealed by the noncompetitive pattern of inhibition observed when tested in the presence of increasing concentrations of this substrate. Furthermore, when analyzed at varying NADPH concentrations, the characteristic pattern of hyperbolic uncompetitive inhibition supports the view that binding of NADPH to TryR is a prerequisite for inhibitor-protein association. Similar to other TryR uncompetitive inhibitors for NADPH, 3f is responsible for TryR-dependent reduction of cytochrome c in a reaction that is typically inhibited by superoxide dismutase.

Small Molecule-Peptide Conjugates as Dimerization Inhibitors of Leishmania infantum Trypanothione Disulfide Reductase.

Trypanothione disulfide reductase (TryR) is an essential homodimeric enzyme of trypanosomatid parasites that has been validated as a drug target to fight human infections. Using peptides and peptidomimetics, we previously obtained proof of concept that disrupting protein-protein interactions at the dimer interface of Leishmania infantum TryR (LiTryR) offered an innovative and so far unexploited opportunity for the development of novel antileishmanial agents. Now, we show that linking our previous peptide prototype TRL38 to selected hydrophobic moieties provides a novel series of small-molecule-peptide conjugates that behave as good inhibitors of both LiTryR activity and dimerization.

New Phosphoramidates Containing Selenium as Leishmanicidal Agents.

This work reports the synthesis and characterization by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 1H, 13C, and 79Se nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis techniques as well as the in vitro evaluation of the leishmanicidal activity of 13 new selenophosphoramidate derivatives. Among the new compounds, four of them (compounds 1f, 1g, 2f, and 2g), which exhibited the best profiles, were tested against infected macrophages and were selected for further studies related to their leishmanicidal mechanism. In this regard, trypanothione redox system alteration was determined. Compound 1g, under similar conditions, was more effective than the corresponding references. In addition, theoretical calculations showed that this compound also presents most physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties within the ranges expected for orally available drugs. It is believed that selenophosphoramidate functionalities may represent a scaffold to be explored toward the development of new agents for leishmania treatment.

Efficient Dimerization Disruption of Leishmania infantum Trypanothione Reductase by Triazole-phenyl-thiazoles.

Inhibition of Leishmania infantum trypanothione disulfide reductase (LiTryR) by disruption of its homodimeric interface has proved to be an alternative and unexploited strategy in the search for novel antileishmanial agents. Proof of concept was first obtained by peptides and peptidomimetics. Building on previously reported dimerization disruptors containing an imidazole-phenyl-thiazole scaffold, we now report a new 1,2,3-triazole-based chemotype that yields noncompetitive, slow-binding inhibitors of LiTryR. Several compounds bearing (poly)aromatic substituents dramatically improve the ability to disrupt LiTryR dimerization relative to reference imidazoles. Molecular modeling studies identified an almost unexplored hydrophobic region at the interfacial domain as the putative binding site for these compounds. A subsequent structure-based design led to a symmetrical triazole analogue that displayed even more potent inhibitory activity over LiTryR and enhanced leishmanicidal activity. Remarkably, several of these novel triazole-bearing compounds were able to kill both extracellular and intracellular parasites in cell cultures.

3,5-Dimethyl-4-isoxazoyl selenocyanate as promising agent for the treatment of Leishmania infantum-infected mice.

Compounds 1 and 2 (selenocyanate and diselenide derivatives, respectively) were evaluated for their potential use in vivo against visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Both entities showed low cytoxicity in vitro in Vero and Caco-2 cell lines. However, the compounds were not suitable for their oral administration, since they exhibited poor values of intestinal permeability in vitro. Microsomal stability assays did not show any metabolite for compound 1 after 120 min, whereas 2 was highly metabolized by the enzyme CYP450. Thus, the in vivo efficacy of compound 1 was assessed in a murine model of L. infantum VL. The daily i.v. administration of 1 mg/kg of compound 1 during 5 consecutive days reduced parasite load in liver, spleen and bone marrow (99.2%, 91.7% and 61.4%, respectively) compared to non-treated mice. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a selenium compound has been tested in vivo against VL. Thus, this work evidences the possible usefulness of selenocyanate derivatives for the treatment of this disease.

New Amides Containing Selenium as Potent Leishmanicidal Agents Targeting Trypanothione Reductase.

Two new series of 28 selenocyanate and diselenide derivatives containing amide moieties were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their leishmanicidal activity against Leishmania infantum axenic amastigotes, and selectivity was assessed in human THP-1 cells. Eleven compounds exhibited excellent leishmanicidal activity with EC50 values lower than the reference drug miltefosine (EC50 = 2.84 µM). In addition, for six of them the selectivity index ranged from 9 to >1,442, greater than both references used. The most potent and selective compounds were compounds 2h, 2k, and 2m that displayed EC50 values of 0.52, 1.19, and 0.50 µM, respectively, and a high selectivity index (SI) when tested against THP-1 monocytic cells (SI = >1,442, >672, and >1,100, respectively). These derivatives showed an efficacy similar to that of the reference drugs but much better SI values. They also showed interesting activity values against infected macrophages. Trypanothione reductase (TryR) activity and intracellular thiol level measurement assays were performed for the three best compounds in an attempt to elucidate their mechanism of action. Despite that the new analogs exhibited comparable or better inhibitory activities than the reference TryR inhibitors, more studies are necessary to confirm this result. In summary, our findings suggest that the three compounds described here could constitute leading leishmanicidal drug candidates.

Pseudoirreversible slow-binding inhibition of trypanothione reductase by a protein-protein interaction disruptor.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Peptide P4 was described as a dimerization disruptor of trypanothione reductase (TryR), a homodimeric enzyme essential for survival of trypanosomatids. Determination of the true inhibitory constant (Ki ) for P4 was not achieved because reaction rates continuously decreased with time, even when substrate concentration was kept constant. The aim of this study was to find a suitable kinetic model that could allow characterization of the complex pattern of TryR inhibition caused by P4. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: After showing the slow-binding and pseudoirreversible activity of P4 against Leishmania infantum trypanothione reductase (Li-TryR), analysis of the curvatures of the reaction progress curves at different inhibitor concentrations allowed us to define the apparent inhibitory constants (Kiapp ) at five different substrate concentrations. Analysis of the changes in Kiapp values allowed precise definition of the type of inhibition. KEY RESULTS: Li-TryR inhibition by P4 requires two sequential steps that involve rapid generation of a reversible enzyme-inhibitor complex followed by a pseudoirreversible slow inactivation of the enzyme. Recovery of enzyme activity after inhibitor dissociation is barely detectable. P4 is a non-competitive pseudoirreversible inhibitor of Li- TryR that displays an overall inhibition constant (Ki* ) smaller than 0.02 µM. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Li-TryRdimer disruption by peptide P4 is a pseudoirreversible time-dependent process which is non-competitive with respect to the oxidized trypanothione (TS2 ) substrate. Therefore, unlike reversible Li-TryR competitive inhibitors, enzyme inhibition by P4 is not affected by the TS2 accumulation observed during oxidant processes such as the oxidative burst in host macrophages.

Pre-clinical evidences of the antileishmanial effects of diselenides and selenocyanates.

A series of thirty-one selenocompounds covering a wide chemical space was assessed for in vitro leishmanicidal activities against Leishmania infantum amastigotes. The cytotoxicity of those compounds was also evaluated on human THP-1 cells. Interestingly most tested derivatives were active in the low micromolar range and seven of them (A.I.3, A.I.7, B.I.1, B.I.2, C.I.7 C.I.8 and C.II.8) stood out for selectivity indexes higher than the ones exhibited by reference compounds mitelfosine and edelfosine. These leader compounds were evaluated against infected macrophages and their trypanothione reductase (TryR) inhibition potency was measured to further approach the mechanism by which they caused their action. Among them diselenide tested structures were pointed out for their ability to reduce infection rates. Three of the leader compounds inhibited TryR effectively, therefore this enzyme may be implicated in the mechanism of action by which these compounds cause their leishmanicidal effect.

Generation of endoplasmic reticulum stress and inhibition of autophagy by plitidepsin induces proteotoxic apoptosis in cancer cells.

Plitidepsin (PLD, Aplidin®), a cyclic depsipeptide originally isolated from the marine tunicate Aplidium albicans, has been recently approved by Australian regulatory authorities for the treatment of multiple myeloma patients. Plitidepsin binds to eEF1A2 and induces oxidative stress, Rac1 activation and JNK1 phosphorylation, triggering a rapid apoptotic program in tumor cells. Since oxidative stress is one of the known sources of endoplasmic reticulum stress, we investigated whether PLD was inducing a bona fide ER stress in HeLa cells and whether this process was essential in the mechanism of action of the compound. Indeed, PLD activated an ER stress-induced unfolded protein response (UPR), including the alternative splicing of XBP1, the proteolytic processing of ATF6 and the phosphorylation of eIF2α and JNK. Interestingly, though PLD induced a strong phosphorylation of eIF2α in all the analyzed cell lines, it did not elicit an increased expression of ATF4 and CHOP, a transcription factor involved in launching UPR-mediated apoptosis. On the contrary, a clear reduction of CHOP protein levels was observed after PLD treatment, most probably due to both the lack of transactivation by ATF4 and its rapid degradation by the ubiquitin/proteasome machinery. Using fibroblasts devoid of each one of the four possible kinases involved in eIF2α phosphorylation, we observed that only PKR was involved in the response to PLD treatment and, accordingly, PKR-/- fibroblasts are shown to be resistant to the apoptogenic activity of the compound. Furthermore, eIF2α phosphorylation itself was shown to be irrelevant for the induction of cell death by PLD. Instead, we reveal that PLD induces an increase in the levels of misfolded proteins while simultaneously inhibiting the autophagic flux. These two effects combined prevent PLD-treated cells from reducing proteotoxic stress and lead to apoptosis. Other anti-myeloma drugs like bortezomib, which target the proteasome, also inhibit the degradation of misfolded proteins through alternate pathways and a synergistic anticancer effect of the PLD plus bortezomib combination has been previously disclosed. The present results extend this synergy to in vivo experiments and provide a mechanistic rationale for this synergy.

Pyrrolopyrimidine vs Imidazole-Phenyl-Thiazole Scaffolds in Nonpeptidic Dimerization Inhibitors of Leishmania infantum Trypanothione Reductase.

Disruption of protein-protein interactions of essential oligomeric enzymes by small molecules represents a significant challenge. We recently reported some linear and cyclic peptides derived from an α-helical region present in the homodimeric interface of Leishmania infantum trypanothione reductase ( Li-TryR) that showed potent effects on both dimerization and redox activity of this essential enzyme. Here, we describe our first steps toward the design of nonpeptidic small-molecule Li-TryR dimerization disruptors using a proteomimetic approach. The pyrrolopyrimidine and the 5-6-5 imidazole-phenyl-thiazole α-helix-mimetic scaffolds were suitably decorated with substituents that could mimic three key residues (K, Q, and I) of the linear peptide prototype (PKIIQSVGIS-Nle-K-Nle). Extensive optimization of previously described synthetic methodologies was required. A library of 15 compounds bearing different hydrophobic alkyl and aromatic substituents was synthesized. The imidazole-phenyl-thiazole-based analogues outperformed the pyrrolopyrimidine-based derivatives in both inhibiting the enzyme and killing extracellular and intracellular parasites in cell culture. The most active imidazole-phenyl-thiazole compounds 3e and 3f inhibit Li-TryR and prevent growth of the parasites at low micromolar concentrations similar to those required by the peptide prototype. The intrinsic fluorescence of these compounds inside the parasites visually demonstrates their good permeability in comparison with previous peptide-based Li-TryR dimerization disruptors.

Discovery of new organoselenium compounds as antileishmanial agents.

We report new organoselenium compounds bearing the sulfonamide moiety as effective inhibitors of the ß-isoform of Carbonic Anhydrase from the unicellular parasitic protozoan L. donovani chagasi. All derivatives were evaluated in vitro for their leishmanicidal activities against Leishmania infantum amastigotes along with their cytotoxicities in human THP-1 cells. Compounds 3e-g showed their activity in the low micromolar range with IC50 values spanning from 0.72 to 0.81 µM and selectivity indexes (SI) > 8 (for 3g SI > 30), thus much higher than those observed for the reference drugs miltefosine and edelfosine. This is the first study which reports new selenoderivatives with promising leishmanicidal properties and acting as Carbonic Anhydrase inhibitors too thus paving the way to the development of innovative agents for the treatment of neglected diseases such as leishmaniasis.

Synthesis and Leishmanicidal Activity of Novel Urea, Thiourea, and Selenourea Derivatives of Diselenides.

A novel series of thirty-one N-substituted urea, thiourea, and selenourea derivatives containing diphenyldiselenide entities were synthesized, fully characterized by spectroscopic and analytical methods, and screened for their in vitro leishmanicidal activities. The cytotoxic activity of these derivatives was tested against Leishmania infantum axenic amastigotes, and selectivity was assessed in human THP-1 cells. Thirteen of the synthesized compounds showed a significant antileishmanial activity, with 50% effective concentration (EC50) values lower than that for the reference drug miltefosine (EC50, 2.84 µM). In addition, the derivatives 9, 11, 42, and 47, with EC50 between 1.1 and 1.95 µM, also displayed excellent selectivity (selectivity index ranged from 12.4 to 22.7) and were tested against infected macrophages. Compound 11, a derivative with a cyclohexyl chain, exhibited the highest activity against intracellular amastigotes, with EC50 values similar to those observed for the standard drug edelfosine. Structure-activity relationship analyses revealed that N-aliphatic substitution in urea and selenourea is recommended for the leishmanicidal activity of these analogs. Preliminary studies of the mechanism of action for the hit compounds was carried out by measuring their ability to inhibit trypanothione reductase. Even though the obtained results suggest that this enzyme is not the target for most of these derivatives, their activity comparable to that of the standards and lack of toxicity in THP-1 cells highlight the potential of these compounds to be optimized for leishmaniasis treatment.

Identification of NEK3 and MOK as novel targets for lithium.

Lithium ion, commonly used as the carbonate salt in the treatment of bipolar disorders, has been identified as an inhibitor of several kinases, including Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3ß, for almost 20 years. However, both the exact mechanism of enzymatic inhibition and its apparent specificity for certain metalloenzymes are still a matter of debate. A data-driven hypothesis is presented that accounts for the specificity profile of kinase inhibition by lithium in terms of the presence of a unique protein environment in the magnesium-binding site. This hypothesis has been validated by the discovery of two novel potential targets for lithium, namely NEK3 and MOK, which are related to neuronal function.

Trypanothione reductase inhibition and anti-leishmanial activity of all-hydrocarbon stapled α-helical peptides with improved proteolytic stability.

Trypanothione reductase (TryR) is a well-established target in the search for novel antitrypanosomal and antileishmanial agents. We have previously identified linear and lactam-bridged 13-residue peptides derived from an α-helical region making up part of the dimeric interface of Leishmania infantum TryR (Li-TryR) which prevent trypanothione reduction by disrupting enzyme dimerization. We now show that i,i + 4 side-chain cross-linking with an all-hydrocarbon staple stabilizes the helical structure of these peptides and significantly improves their resistance to protease cleavage relative to previous linear and cyclic lactam analogues. Interestingly, replacement of the amide bridge by the hydrocarbon staple at the same cyclization positions generates derivatives (2 and 3) that similarly inhibit oxidoreductase activity of the enzyme but unexpectedly stabilize the TryR homodimer. The most proteolytically stable peptide 2 covalently linked to oligoarginines displayed potent in vitro leishmanicidal activity against L. infantum parasites.

Guidelines and recommendations on yeast cell death nomenclature.

Elucidating the biology of yeast in its full complexity has major implications for science, medicine and industry. One of the most critical processes determining yeast life and physiology is cel-lular demise. However, the investigation of yeast cell death is a relatively young field, and a widely accepted set of concepts and terms is still missing. Here, we propose unified criteria for the defi-nition of accidental, regulated, and programmed forms of cell death in yeast based on a series of morphological and biochemical criteria. Specifically, we provide consensus guidelines on the differ-ential definition of terms including apoptosis, regulated necrosis, and autophagic cell death, as we refer to additional cell death rou-tines that are relevant for the biology of (at least some species of) yeast. As this area of investigation advances rapidly, changes and extensions to this set of recommendations will be implemented in the years to come. Nonetheless, we strongly encourage the au-thors, reviewers and editors of scientific articles to adopt these collective standards in order to establish an accurate framework for yeast cell death research and, ultimately, to accelerate the pro-gress of this vibrant field of research.