Scientists Discover Cells “Vomit” Waste in a Hidden Healing Shortcut That Could Also Fuel Cancer
(Your Website Name) – In a study that redefines our understanding of how cells heal, researchers have identified a surprising and messy cellular process where injured cells essentially "vomit" out their contents to regenerate faster. This newly discovered shortcut, however, comes with a dangerous trade-off: it may create an environment that fuels inflammation and cancer.
The study, led by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WashU Medicine) and Baylor College of Medicine, introduces the world to "cathartocytosis" – a term derived from Greek roots meaning "cellular cleansing." The findings were recently published in the prestigious journal Cell Reports.
A "Vomiting" Cell for Faster Healing
When cells are injured, they have known ways to respond, including self-destruction or a gradual reversion to a younger state. Cathartocytosis adds a third, far more rapid option.
"We identified this process in the GI tract, but we suspect it is relevant in other tissues as well," said first author Dr. Jeffrey W. Brown, an assistant professor of medicine at WashU Medicine. "After an injury, the cell's job is to repair that injury. But the cell's mature cellular machinery for doing its normal job gets in the way. So, this cellular cleanse is a quick way of getting rid of that machinery so it can rapidly become a small, primitive cell capable of proliferating and repairing the injury."
Dr. Brown likened the process to a form of cellular "vomiting" or jettisoning, providing a shortcut that allows the cell to declutter faster than through slower, internal digestion processes.
The Dark Side of a Messy Shortcut
The research team discovered cathartocytosis within a regenerative injury response called paligenosis, a process where mature cells revert to a stem cell-like state to regrow tissue.
While this "downsizing" helps healing, it is not a clean process. The ejected cellular waste left outside the cell can trigger inflammation. In the context of a single, acute injury, this is manageable. However, in cases of chronic injury—such as from persistent infections like Helicobacter pylori—ongoing cathartocytosis can create a festering, inflammatory environment that is a known breeding ground for cancer.
"In these gastric cells, paligenosis is a risky process, especially now that we've identified the potentially inflammatory downsizing of cathartocytosis within it," said senior author Dr. Jason C. Mills of Baylor College of Medicine. "If many older, mutated cells revert to stem cell states in an effort to repair a chronic injury, there's an increased risk of acquiring, perpetuating and expanding harmful mutations that lead to cancer."
Potential for New Diagnostics and Therapies
This discovery opens new avenues for early cancer detection and intervention. Dr. Brown and a collaborator have already developed an antibody that binds to the waste ejected during cathartocytosis. This could serve as a marker for precancerous states, allowing doctors to identify at-risk tissues long before a tumor fully develops.
"If we have a better understanding of this process, we could develop ways to help encourage the healing response and perhaps, in the context of chronic injury, block the damaged cells undergoing chronic cathartocytosis from contributing to cancer formation," Dr. Brown added.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other organizations, not only reveals a fundamental new aspect of cell biology but also points toward future strategies to disrupt the dangerous link between chronic injury and cancer.