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Bleb protrusions help cancer cells to cheat death

Processes that regulate cell death can rid the body of cancer cells. However, some of these cells have ways to thwart such processes, and one such death-defying mechanism has been found to rely on cellular protrusions called blebs.
  1. Michal Reichman-Fried

    1. Michal Reichman-Fried is at the Institute of Cell Biology, University of Münster, Münster 48149, Germany.

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  2. Erez Raz

    1. Erez Raz is at the Institute of Cell Biology, University of Münster, Münster 48149, Germany.

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If cells do not attach properly to their external environment, this typically triggers a regulated process of cell death that helps to maintain tissue integrity and removes potentially harmful cells1,2. Cancer cells can develop the ability to exist without being attached to other tissues, which is a key feature enabling their survival and spread1. Writing in Nature, Weems et al.3 report the discovery of a mechanism that enables detached malignant cells to survive — one that depends on cellular protrusions named blebs4.

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Nature 615, 402-403 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00477-4

References

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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