Cell Cannibalism: Why Do Our Cells Eat Each Other?

Abstract

Natural killer (NK) cells and phagocytes are examples of innate immune cells. Body cells known as phagocytes are specialized for cannibalism the process of capturing, ingesting, and eliminating invasive pathogens. Phagocytic cells come in two primary varieties. These are mononuclear phagocytes (blood monoocytes and tissue macrophages) and polymorphonuclear leucocytes (particularly neutrophils). Macrophage present either fixed as (Microglial cell in brain, alveolar macrophage in lung and Kupffer cell in liver) or wandering as in body cavity. Phagotrophy, cell cannibalism, intentional cell elimination, and primary phagocytosis are some of the names for the types of cell death that can occur when cells are phagocytosed by other cells. But these are all distinct ways that phagocytosis (abbreviated "phagocytosis") kills cells. Cytotoxic oxidants, peptides, and degradative enzymes found in acidic phagolysosomes cause the entrapped cells to perish. Despite Metchnikov's discovery of cell death by cannibalism in the 1880s, it was overlooked until recently. It is now understood to play a key role in both innate and adaptive immunity against infections and to contribute to developmental cell death in worms, Drosophila, and mammals. The most prevalent type of cell death in the mammalian body is cannibalism, which mediates the physiological turnover of erythrocytes and other leucocytes. Although cancer cells can also phagocytose host cells and other cancer cells to survive, immunity against cancer is also partially mediated by macrophage cannibalism of cancer cells. According to recent data, microglial cannibalism of stressed neurons can mediate neurodegeneration and other neuropathologies. Therefore, even though cannibalism-induced cell death is not well understood, it is one of the most significant, prevalent, and ancient types of cell death.