Table 1.

Main features of apoptosis, necrosis, autophagy, and ferroptosis.

	Type of Cell Death
	Apoptosis	Necroptosis	Autophagy	Ferroptosis
Cell morphology	Shrinkage	Swelling	Accumulation of autophagosomes, double membrane vesicles with multiple cytoplasmic contents	Swollen cytoplasm and organelle, shrunken mitochondria with reduced cristae and ruptured outer membrane
Nucleus	Rupture	Nuclear condensation	Degradation	Normal
Cell membrane	Blebbing	Rupture	Focal plasma membrane rupture	Lack of rupture and blebbing of the plasma membrane
Key protein	Initiation: caspase-2, -8, -9, and -10; execution: caspase-3, -6, and -7	RIP1, RIP3, MLKL	ATG5, ATG7, LC3, p62/SQSTM1	GPX4, GSH
Biochemical characteristics	DNA degradation	Inflammatory response	Increased activity of lysosomes	Lipid peroxidation in cells induced by ferrous or esterase

ATG, autophagy-related; GPX4, glutathione peroxidase 4; GSH, glutathione; MLKL, mixed lineage kinase domain-like; RIP, receptor-interacting protein.