Blogs / Discoblog

Some cells take the mantra “you are what you eat” quite literally. In a process known as autophagy, cells form internal sacs of digestive enzymes—like extra stomachs—and cannibalize parts of themselves. This usually occurs in times of starvation when a cell needs to recycle bits of itself or get rid of intracellular pathogens. But new research shows that cellular self-cannibalization can also play a role in fighting cancer.

Researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center found that a protein, PEA-15, affects the rate at which ovarian cancer cells self-cannibalize through autophagy. PEA-15 induces cancer cells to form digestive sacs, known as lysosomes, and eat themselves from the inside. That’s not just Hannibal Lecter cannibalism—it’s like Lecter chewing on his own arm.

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Humans have a habit of using animals to carry things: horses, llamas, sled dogs, messenger pigeons. But the newest “beasts of burden” may be inside our own bodies. Researchers at MIT have strapped tiny “backpacks” to T cells and B cells, which could be used to carry and deliver drugs to targeted tissues like cancer tumors.

The researchers created tiny polymer patches that could latch onto the surface of the immune cells. The patches are synthesized and docked on a holding substrate. They consists of three layers: a temperature-dependent sticky layer that attaches the patches to a holding substrate, a layer that contains the cargo to be delivered, and a binding layer that will attach the patches to the cell surface. Once the system is set up, cells are allowed to flow across the patches and get stuck on them. The temperature of the system is then lowered to release the patches from the substrate, and the cells float away with their “backpacks.”

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We may not be aware of it, but the cells in our bodies are communicating all the time, gabbing away as part of a complex community that sends signals and messages nonstop. But while scientists have been studying cell signaling for years, one question remained: Would we ever be able to learn the cells’ language?

Now, it appears, we have an answer. Dr. Cameron Alexander and PhD student George Pasparakis at the U.K.’s University of Nottingham have successfully facilitated a conversation between natural bacterial cells and artificial polymer vesicles, using strategically-placed groups of sugars on the vesicle surface to mimic the surfaces of an actual cell.

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