Cell-in-cell structures are involved in the competition between cells in human tumors.
The engulfment of live cells may represent a mechanism of cell death. We reported that E-cadherin (epithelial cadherin) expression in human cancer cells favors the formation of cell-in-cell structures through the mechanism known as entosis, and that entosis contributes to a form of cellular competition in heterogeneous cancer cell populations.
Laboratory of Cell Engineering; Institute of Biotechnology ; Beijing, PR China.
Qiang
Q
Sun
Department of Oncology; Beijing Shijitan Hospital of Capital Medical University ; Beijing, PR China.
Hongyan
H
Huang
Cell Biology Program; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center ; New York, NY, USA.
Michael
M
Overholtzer
autophagy; cannibalism; cell competition; cell death; cell engulfment; cell-in-cell; engulfment; entosis; entotic cell death; phagocytosis