Scientists watch a human cell explode and die on camera for the first time

Scientists have captured the first footage of a human white blood cell dying, giving them unprecedented insight into a key process which could lead to improved medical treatments.

"We were extremely surprised because in textbooks we are never taught about this," said La Trobe University cell biologist Ivan Poon. "We were quite amazed that this happened and that no one had witnessed it before."

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Ground breaking image of white cell death

In capturing world first images of white cell death, a La Trobe University research team is at the cutting edge of a deeper understanding of the human bodies immune system.

While white blood cells are the soldiers of the body's immune system, they don't live forever. And despite their crucial role in fighting off disease and foreign invaders, scientists have until now had little idea about the way they died or what happened the the cell debris generated.

Taken in real-time using time-lapse microscopy, the footage reveals a dying monocyte white blood cell as it goes through a number of shape changes before dramatically ejecting some of its contents as if they were beans bursting free from a beanbag.

Cell Biologist Dr Ivan Poon
at La Trobe University.
Cell Biologist Dr Ivan Poon at La Trobe University. Photo: Chris Hopkins

Researchers think that in spilling its contents, a warning signal is sent to surrounding cells - a way to let them know that something is amiss and triggering the body's immune system into action .

"It could be alerting other cells that there is infection or a tissue injury," Dr Poon said.


Previously researchers thought that cell death was random but after filming the process up to 40 times in cancerous cells, they realised that there are set steps a diseased cell goes through as it dies.

Outlined in the journal Nature Communications on Monday, the information is important because understanding the mechanics of the body's immune system means researchers can better design drugs to take advantage of this new-found knowledge.

It could mean that the steps a cell goes through as it dies are manipulated to either encourage or stop the process from taking place.

Dr Poon said in the example of a flu infection, the cell spilling its contents to generate an immune response to deal with the virus would be a desirable outcome.

However if the virus used the cell contents as a trojan horse to spread the infection, clearly scientists would want to design a drug to intervene and stop the process occurring.

"We have literally discovered a new biological process," Dr Poon said. "And this process may be very important in a number of diseases."

Dr Poon and colleagues, including PhD candidate Georgia Atkin-Smith, have already tested some existing medications and found some influence the process. One drug, an antidepressant, was shown to blocked the process while an antibiotic was shown to enhance it.

"The fact that we have identified existing medications will hopefully mean we can move forward quickly," he said.