Anastasis: Cell Survival Mechanism

Abstract

Equilibrium between cell survival and death is important for normal cell homeostasis and development and also for inhibiting
pathologies particularly cancer. Anastasis is a natural cell recovery phenomenon that rescues cells from the brink of death or a
mechanism by which cells recuperate from apoptotic lesions and return to its normal active and functioning state. Programmed
cell death (apoptosis) was known to be an intrinsically irreversible cascade that commits cells to a rapid destruction. However,
recent studies have demonstrated the possibility of recovering dying cells even at the late stages. Anastasis uses the usual pro-metastatic
and pro-survival factors to inhibit apoptotic progression. Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) activation and its related
modulators is not only linked with cellular metastasis and survivability but also widely associated with the stemness of cancer cells.