Cell Competition Drives the Growth of Intestinal Adenomas in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Tumor-host interactions play an increasingly recognized role in modulating tumor growth. Thus, understanding the nature and impact of this complex bidirectional communication is key to identifying successful anti-cancer strategies. It has been proposed that tumor cells compete with and kill neighboring host tissue to clear space that they can expand into; however, this has not been demonstrated experimentally. Here we use the adult fly intestine to investigate the existence and characterize the role of competitive tumor-host interactions. We show that APC(-/-)-driven intestinal adenomas compete with and kill surrounding cells, causing host tissue attrition. Importantly, we demonstrate that preventing cell competition, by expressing apoptosis inhibitors, restores host tissue growth and cont

SUBMITTER: Suijkerbuijk SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4771920 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature