2023-10-23 04:00:02
The midbody, once seen as simple cellular waste, turns out to be a carrier of vital genetic material. The latter can even initiate the transformation of cells into cancer cells.
Red microtubules connect two human cells about to separate. The green point at the center is a median body, released during division. the product of the first by…) cellular and carrying important genetic information.
Credit: Skop Lab, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ahna Skop, professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, reveals that during mitosis (from the Greek mitos which means filament (reference to the appearance of chromosomes in…), a cell gives life (Life is the name given 🙂 to two daughter cells and a median body. The latter is rich in RNA useful for cellular communication.
A recent study in Developmental Cell shows the role of the midbody in the spread of cancer. Skop’s team, in collaboration with other institutions, found that this median body could serve as a vehicle for RNAs linked to oncogenesis.
“What we thought was a dump is actually a dump of information,” Skop says. Researchers discovered RNAs and the mechanisms to convert them into proteins within these structures.
These RNAs are not linked to cell division, but to pluripotency and tumor formation. “It’s like a little lander. It can move away from the division site, circulate in the blood and attach itself to another cell,” adds Skop.
Some midbodies are reabsorbed by daughter cells, but others may be integrated by a third cell. The latter could then use this RNA, which could induce cellular changes.
Future research could exploit this RNA to target cancer cells. “We think this opens up a huge field for cancer detection and treatment,” concludes Skop.
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