Aparna Nathan in The Scientist:
The relationship between two cells can be complicated. They can exchange signals, stick to each other, or even compete for resources. However, in 2007, scientists at Harvard Medical School observed another curious phenomenon: cells could exist inside other cells.1 This wasn’t completely unprecedented: after all, scientists had long known about phagocytosis, a form of “cell cannibalism” where immune cells destroy damaged cells by chewing them up. But what the Harvard researchers saw was different. These cells weren’t getting swallowed in the same way: rather, they seemed to be invading another cell. Once inside, they could actually survive.
This process, called entosis, seemed to explain the strange, nested cells that doctors sometimes saw in tumors, which were linked to worse cancer outcomes. Even as researchers continued to find more examples, however, cell-in-cell events remained an enigma. “We don’t understand the origins or the physiology underlying the majority of these kinds of events,” said Michael Overholtzer, a cell biologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who co-authored the 2007 study.
More here.
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