Cell competition is a phenomenon in which potentially dangerous or suboptimal cells are eliminated when they are surrounded by healthy cells. Cell competition was first discovered and best-characterized in Drosophila, a genetic system in which mosaic cell clones of varying fitness can be generated to trigger cell competition. The Drosophila neoplastic tumor suppressor mutant cells are eliminated through cell competition when they are generated as clonal cells surrounded by wild type cells. Using this system, our lab performed genetic screens and identified candidate genes important for regulating cell competition.

The cell competition phenomenon has recently been observed in mammala, I would like to test whether the molecular pathways regulating cell competition in Drosophila are cons...[ Read more ]

Cell competition is a phenomenon in which potentially dangerous or suboptimal cells are eliminated when they are surrounded by healthy cells. Cell competition was first discovered and best-characterized in Drosophila, a genetic system in which mosaic cell clones of varying fitness can be generated to trigger cell competition. The Drosophila neoplastic tumor suppressor mutant cells are eliminated through cell competition when they are generated as clonal cells surrounded by wild type cells. Using this system, our lab performed genetic screens and identified candidate genes important for regulating cell competition.

The cell competition phenomenon has recently been observed in mammala, I would like to test whether the molecular pathways regulating cell competition in Drosophila are conserved in mammalian systems. My thesis work is to establish a cell competition system using mammalian epithelial cell lines.

Key words: cell competition genetic screening molecular mechanism mammalian system