Cancer cells commandeer iron-recycling macrophages (IMAGE)
Caption
Researchers have long known that patients often experience anemia when cancer metastasizes to the bone, but it’s never been clear why. Now, a team of Princeton researchers has discovered exactly what happens on a cellular level; in this image of human bone marrow, the cancer cells (marked in pink) commandeer specialized iron-recycling cells (marked in blue), depriving red blood cells of iron and supporting the tumor’s growth. In healthy bone marrow, the iron-recycling macrophages would be clustering around red blood cells, but in this cancerous marrow, they are clustering around a tumor.
Credit
Yujiao Han, Zhan Xu, and Yibin Kang
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