Curie Brief
Turn on cookies to sign in
Signing in saves your progress to your Curie account. We can only do that with cookies on — turn them on to continue.
News
Scientists at the Weizmann Institute have identified a special group of cells — dubbed DARE cells — that begin the process of programmed cell death but survive it, going on to rapidly rebuild damaged tissue. Their descendants turn out to be dramatically more resistant to future damage. The same survival mechanism, however, may be how some cancers bounce back stronger after radiation therapy.
Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have discovered a previously unknown population of cells that can initiate programmed cell death — and then survive it. Published in Nature Communications, the study identifies these so-called DARE cells, which not only escape destruction but go on to replenish nearly half of radiation-damaged tissue within just 48 hours. A second group, NARE cells, also contributes to regeneration, but can't do it alone — DARE cells are the essential spark.
The key to DARE cells' survival lies in a molecular "pause button": the cell death pathway activates but stalls before the final destruction phase, thanks to a motor protein that keeps the process from completing. That same motor protein has previously been linked to cancerous tumor growth, suggesting that cancer cells may exploit this very mechanism to evade treatment.
The findings also shed light on why tumors often return more aggressively after radiation — descendants of DARE cells were found to be seven times more resistant to cell death than untreated cells.
Key Takeaways:
Why it matters: Understanding how cells survive their own death sentence could transform both wound healing and cancer treatment — helping clinicians promote recovery in healthy tissue while cutting off the escape routes tumors use to survive therapy.
