Apoptotic cell engulfment by cancer cells

凋亡的口腔鳞状细胞癌（SCC）细胞不仅被巨噬细胞吞噬，而且被邻近的SCC细胞吞噬，这可能是一种潜在的抗癌途径。由于凋亡的SCC细胞对吞噬调节分子之一的乳脂球-表皮生长因子-因子8（MFG-E8）呈免疫化学阳性，因此认为凋亡的SCC细胞通过MFG-E8相关的吞噬途径被清除。此外，MFG-E8同时在浸润前沿形成小病灶的SCC细胞中表达，并且其在培养的SCC细胞中的表达水平与细胞生长、抗凋亡活性和浸润相关。结果表明，通过癌细胞产生的MFG-E8的凋亡细胞清除增强了癌细胞行为的侵袭性。

Apoptotic oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells are engulfed not only by macrophages but also by neighboring SCC cells, which could be a potential anti-cancer avenue. Since apoptotic SCC cells were immunohistochemically positive for milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor-factor 8 (MFG-E8), one of the phagocytosis regulating molecules, apoptotic SCC cells were suggested to be removed by the MFG-E8-related phagocytotic pathways. In addition, MFG-E8 was simultaneously expressed in SCC cells forming small foci at the invading front, and its expression levels in SCC cells in culture were correlated with cell growth, anti-apoptotic activity and invasion. The results indicated that the apoptotic cell clearance via MFG-E8 produced by cancer cells enhances aggressiveness of cancer cell behaviors.