Cell Journal: Hijacking immune activators to promote the growth and spread of cancer cells

Through a complex and self-reinforcing feedback mechanism, colorectal cancer cells create space for their own expansion by driving the death of surrounding healthy intestinal cells-while also promoting their own growth

For an organ or tissue to maintain a good functional state, on the one hand, it requires the balance of cell growth and differentiation, and on the other hand, the elimination of defective cells

Growth requires constant dynamic reorganization of tissue structure: defective cells must leave the tissue under the action of mechanical force

Zhou Jun, Erica Valentini and Michael Boutros from the German Cancer Research Center and Heidelberg University have now studied these processes in the intestinal epithelium of fruit flies.

First, tumor cells tear tissue structure by acting on cell adhesion

It is speculated that it may be due to the release of cytokines from dead intestinal cells, and the JAK/Stat signaling pathway that promotes growth in tumor cells is activated, leading to further tumor spread

The research team also found that the immune activator PGRP-LA is necessary in this process

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Jun Zhou, Erica Valentini und Michael Boutros: Microenvironmental innate immune signalling and cell mechanical responses promote tumor growth.