Re: Spending too much time on the flow - Ode to an apoptotic lymphocyte

Melissa Keayswrote:
> /
>
> Can I remind everyone of this relic...? *From:* Howard Shapiro 
> (/hms@shapirolab.com/ 
> <mailto:hms@shapirolab.com?subject=Re:%20Apoptosis>) *Date:* Tue Sep 
> 16 1997 - 19:01:15 EST
>
> Apoptosis takes its name from the Greek word describing the falling of
> leaves or petals...which presented an irresistible opportunity for a Shapiro
> flow song.  I'm not sure many of you remember the Roger Williams piano
> arrangement of "Autumn Leaves", but those of you who do can try to conjure
> it up in the background.
>
> -Howard
>
> LES FEUILLES MORTS
>
> When outer leaflets of cell membranes
> Let phosphatidylserine show,
> Labeled annexin V will bind there,
> And you can measure it in flow.
>
> Mitochondria deenergize
> And superoxide levels rise,
> But the nuclear signs of apoptosis
> Come later; then, the cell dies.
>
> Did thymocytes get radiation?
> Was dexamethasone to blame?
> Or was it simply fas ligation?
> The end results are all the same.
>
> Lytic enzymes in the cell are loosed,
> And glutathione is reduced,
> And, around the time the membrane's leaky,
> The vultures all leave their roost.
>
> The journals publish three new assays
> For apoptosis every week;
> Is it biology which varies
> >From cell to cell, or just technique?
>
> Cells can stay alive, as good as new,
> If they can make bcl-2,
> But, if not, their DNA's in fragments
> When apoptosis is through.
>
>		(c) Howard Shapiro
>		September, 1997
> /
The version below, from p. 461 of the 4th Edition of Practical Flow 
Cytometry, corrects mistakes in French and English grammar and clarifies 
the original re glutathione. References are from the 4th Edition.

-Howard

LES FEUILLES MORTES (Autumn Leaves)

When outer leaflets of cell membranes
Let phosphatidylserine show,
Labeled annexin V will bind there,
And you can measure it in flow (2353-4,2963-4).

Mitochondria deenergize (2811-6,2965),
And superoxide levels rise (2966-8),
But the nuclear signs of apoptosis (1517,1521-4,1526)
Come later (2352); then, the cell dies.

Did thymocytes get radiation?
Was dexamethasone to blame?
Or was it simply Fas ligation?
The end results are all the same.

Lytic enzymes in the cell are loosed (2557,2769-72);
Less glutathione stays reduced (2815,2967),
And, around the time the membrane’s leaky (1520,1525,1527-31),
The vultures all leave their roost.

The journals publish three new assays
For apoptosis every week (2971-83);
Is it biology that varies
 From cell to cell (2984-5), or just technique (2986)?

Cells can stay alive, as good as new,
If they can make bcl-2 (2969),
But, if not, their DNA’s in fragments (1517-9,2971,2982-3,2985)
When apoptosis is through.