Cancer, ageing, multicellularity and cell competition

Coexistence in crowded communities and with limited space is often not easy. Civic rules must be implemented in order to avoid extreme competitive conflicts and define appropriate social behaviors. Recent genetic research has revealed that those social problems also occur among stem cells and during development. My laboratory is interested in how cells form stable societies and how they identify dangerous or suboptimal neighbors and eliminate them. This phenomenon has been termed “cell competition” and we study it in communities of stem cells and during development in Drosophila and mice. Our interests include:

• The role of cell competition to maximize stem cell fitness, delaying ageing and degeneration
• Genetics of cell competition
• Cell competition and cancer
• Explore biomedical applications of cell competition
• Evolution of multicellularity towards the creation of stable cell societies.

Key words:

Cancer, ageing, stem cells, genetics, cell competition, evolution, fitness

Publications:

1. Flower-deficient mice have reduced susceptibility to skin papilloma formation. Petrova E, Lopez-Gay J, Rhiner C, Moreno E. Disease Models and Mechanisms. February 2012
2. The expression of SPARC in human tumors is consistent with its role during cell competition. Petrova E, Soldini D and Moreno E. Communicative and Integrative Biology. Volume 4, Issue 2 March/April 2011, 171 - 174
3. The "Flower Code" and Cancer Development. Casas-Tinto S, Torres M and Moreno E. Clin Transl Oncol. 2011 Jan;13(1):5-9
4. The society of our "out of Africa" ancestors (I): The migrant warriors that colonized the world. Moreno E. Communicative and Integrative Biology. Vol. 4, Issue 2 March/April 2011 163 - 170
5. Drosophila SPARC is a self-protective signal expressed by loser cells during cell competition. Portela M, Casas-Tinto S, Rhiner C, López-Gay JM, Domínguez O, Soldini D, Moreno E. Dev Cell. 2010 Oct 19;19(4):562-73.
6. Flower forms an extracellular code that reveals the fitness of a cell to its neighbors in Drosophila. Rhiner C, López-Gay JM, Soldini D, Casas-Tinto S, Martín FA, Lombardía L, Moreno E. Dev Cell. 2010 Jun 15;18(6):985-98.
7. The co-regulator dNAB interacts with Brinker to eliminate cells with reduced Dpp signaling. Ziv O, Suissa Y, Neuman H, Dinur T, Geuking P, Rhiner C, Portela M, Lolo F, Moreno E, Gerlitz O. Development. 2009 Apr;136(7):1137-45.
8. Persistent competition among stem cells and their daughters in the Drosophila ovary germline niche. Rhiner C, Díaz B, Portela M, Poyatos JF, Fernández-Ruiz I, López-Gay JM, Gerlitz O, Moreno E. Development. 2009 Mar;136(6):995-1006. Epub 2009 Feb 11.
9. Super competition as a possible mechanism to pioneer precancerous fields. Rhiner C, Moreno E. Carcinogenesis. 2009 May;30(5):723-8. Epub 2009 Jan 6. Review.
10. Is cell competition relevant to cancer? Moreno E. Nat Rev Cancer. 2008 Feb;8(2):141-7.
11. The competitive nature of cells. Díaz B, Moreno E. Exp Cell Res. 2005 Jun 10;306(2):317-22. Epub 2005 Apr 18. Review.
12. The brinker gradient controls wing growth in Drosophila. Martín FA, Pérez-Garijo A, Moreno E, Morata G. Development. 2004 Oct; 131(20):4921-30. Epub 2004 Sep 15.
13. dMyc transforms cells into super-competitors. Moreno E, Basler K. Cell. 2004 Apr 2;117(1):117-29.
14. Evolution of TNF signaling mechanisms: JNK-dependent apoptosis triggered by Eiger, the Drosophila homolog of the TNF superfamily. Moreno E, Yan M, Basler K. Curr Biol. 2002 Jul 23; 12(14):1263-8.
15. Cells compete for decapentaplegic survival factor to prevent apoptosis in Drosophila wing development. Moreno E, Basler K, Morata G. Nature. 2002 Apr 18;416(6882):755-9.
16. Caudal is the Hox gene that specifies the most posterior Drosophile segment. Moreno E, Morata G. Nature. 1999 Aug 26;400(6747):873-7.