Anastasis: Return Journey from Cell Death

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Despite the development of new anticancer therapies, resistance and recurrence after treatment remain one of the greatest challenges in modern oncology. Anastasis—a recently described phenomenon—could be one explanation for why cytotoxic drugs fail to kill cancer cells. We aim to review current experimental data on cell death reversal and to discuss the possible mechanisms behind anastasis. ABSTRACT: For over 20 years, it has been a dogma that once the integrity of mitochondria is disrupted and proapoptotic proteins that are normally located in the intermembrane space of mitochondria appeared in the cytoplasm, the process of cell death becomes inevitable. However, it has been recently shown that upon removal of the death signal, even at the stage of disturbance in the mitochondria, cells can recover and continue to grow. This phenomenon was named anastasis. Here, we will critically discuss the present knowledge concerning the mechanisms of cell death reversal, or development of anastasis, methods for its detection, and what role signaling from different intracellular compartments plays in anastasis stimulation.