Inside the cell, a little bubble of cellular material was once thought to be the trash can of the corpuscle, a place where particles die or get recycled after cell division. Also known as a midbody remnant, this structure is a packet of information the cells use to communicate. It also works with the genetic material with the ability to change the mechanisms of other cells, possibly turning them into cancer.
Surprising Function of Midbody Remnant
It has been widely accepted that when one cell divides in a process called mitosis, it forms two daughter cells. However, according to genetics professor Ahna Skop from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a single cell divides into three things - two cells and one midbody remnant. However, They are surprised that the midbody is full of genetic information that does not have much to do with cell division but possibly functions in cell communication.
In a new study, the experts investigated the contents of midbodies and tracked their interactions after cell division. The researchers include Skop's collaborators from the University of Utah, Boston University, Harvard Medical School, and Pasteur Institute in Paris.
Previous studies have investigated the involvement of the midbody in cell signaling and in stimulating cell proliferation. However, Skop and her colleagues wanted to look inside the midbody and learn more about it.
The researchers found RNA and the cellular machinery needed to turn that RNA into proteins inside the midbodies. This genetic material serves as a blueprint not for cell division but for the proteins involved in activities that direct a cell's purpose. These include pluripotency, the ability to develop into any of the various types of cells, oncogenesis, or the formation of abnormal cancer cells.
Skop describes a midbody remnant as tiny, measuring only a millionth of a meter, but acts like a lunar lander. It has everything needed to sustain the working information from the dividing cell. It can also drift away from the site of mitosis, travel along the bloodstream, and land on another cell.
A lot of midbody remnants are reabsorbed by one of the daughter cells that release them, but those that land on a surface may be absorbed by a third cell. If that cell engulfs the midbody, it could use the enclosed RNA as if it were its blueprints.
Role of Midbody Remnant in Spreading Cancer
Earlier studies revealed that cancer cells are more likely than stem cells to have ingested midbody and its cargo. Stem cells spit a lot of midbodies back out, probably to maintain their pluripotency.
The scientists identified a gene called Arc, which plays a crucial role in loading the midbody and midbody remnant with RNA. The Arc was taken up long ago by an ancient virus and now contributes to how brain cells make memories.
Loss of Arc can lead to the loss of RNA in the midbody and prevents the information from getting to recipient cells. The researchers believe this memory gene is crucial for all cells to relay RNA information.
The results of the study point to the midbody as a potential vehicle for the spread of cancer throughout the body. Skops and her team believe that their findings have the potential for cancer detection and therapeutics. In future studies, researchers could harness the power of midbody RNA to deliver drugs to cancer cells or to prevent them from dividing.
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