Neighboring Cells Alerted To Protect Themselves By Dying Cells In Fruit Fly

When a cell's DNA becomes irreversibly damaged, it goes through a process called apoptosis, or self-destructs so the damaged DNA does not replicate. TinTin Su Ph.D., and her collaborators at the University of Colorado, found that dying Drosophila melanogaster larvae cells alert neighboring cells that they could also die. They tested this by using ionized radiation (IR) to activate apoptosis in the wing imaginal disc cells, or the premature form of the fly's wings. What they found was that the neighboring cells responded by activating bantam which made it more difficult to kill by IR. They determined that receptor tyrosine kinase was behind this and the dying cells turned the receptor on. Dr. Su believes that if this protective mechanism also works in mammals, it could affect the results of using cytotoxic agents and radiation in cancer therapy.
This discovery is very interesting. The next step is to figure out if this does actually happen in mammals. It is important to figure this out because if it in fact does occur, it would make radiation for cancer much more difficult to work.


Original article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/274633.php
Related article: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/apoptosis.htm