Blind mole rats fight off tumorigenic cells by necrosis since their cells are unable to undergo apoptosis. From Science News:
Blind mole rats ought to be more susceptible to cancer because their cells can’t kill themselves through a type of cell suicide called apoptosis. Low oxygen conditions, such as those common in blind mole rats’ burrows, usually cause cells to commit suicide. To survive underground, the blind rodents had to evolve a countermeasure, a mutation in a cancer-fighting protein called p53. That mutation prevents cells from undergoing apoptosis, a type of cell death in which cells dismantle themselves from the inside — and a process used to kill off cancer cells. Human cancer patients often have similar mutations, which prevent tumor cells from dying.
But blind mole rat cells find a way to off themselves. Growing cells in laboratory dishes, Vera Gorbunova of the University of Rochester in New York and colleagues found that the animals’ cells die on cue after three days. The cells release a chemical called interferon-beta, which the immune system normally uses to fight viruses. In this case, the chemical caused blind mole rat cells to burst open in a violent death known as necrosis.
For more check the link above or read the article at PNAS.
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