| Popis: |
Citokinesis is a final stage of cell division, during which, the mother cell divides, leaving two newly formed daughter cells connected by a thin intercellular bridge (ICB). During abscission of this ICB, the central spindle microtubules are compacted into a protein-rich structure, known as a midbody (MB). Until recently, it was thought that post-mitotic MBs are discarded into the extracellular space where they are degraded immediately following cytokinesis. However, recent studies have shown that MBs are prone to accumulate and persist for a long time in cancer stem cell and cancer cell populations, indi-cating that it may have some post-mitotic functions. Furthermore, it was shown that post-mitotic MBs might function as signalling platforms and determine the stemness and aggressiveness of cancer cells. The abscission of the ICB can occur on one side of the MB (asymmetric abscission), leading to the inheritance of post-mitotic MB only by one daughter cell. Alternatively, when ICB is cut on both sides of the MB (symmetric abscission), the MB is discarded into the extracellular space where it is gradually degraded or internalized by the surrounding cells. The functional consequences of inherited post-mitotic MB in comparison with internalized extracellular post-mitotic MB remains undetermined. How cells retain, accumulate and degrade post-mitotic MB, remains elusive. Although the post-mitotic MB functions become clearer over time, there is still no clear definition of how these intercellular structures accumulate and get degraded once they are inherited or internalized by cancer cells. Moreover, the mechanisms governing post-mitotic MB internalization as well as functional consequences of MB accumulation to cancer cells proliferation and oncogenic potential still need to be determined. |
