Human Cancer Cells Signal Their Competitive Fitness Through MYC Activity.

ABSTRACT: MYC-mediated cell competition is a cell-cell interaction mechanism known to play an evolutionary role during development from Drosophila to mammals. Cells expressing low levels of MYC, called losers, are committed to die by nearby cells with high MYC activity, called winners, that overproliferate to compensate for cell loss, so that the fittest cells be selected for organ formation. Given MYC's consolidated role in oncogenesis, cell competition is supposed to be relevant to cancer, but its significance in human malignant contexts is largely uncharacterised. Here we show stereotypical patterns of MYC-mediated cell competition in human cancers: MYC-upregulating cells and apoptotic cells were indeed repeatedly found at the tumour-stroma interface and within the tumour parenchyma. Cell death a

SUBMITTER: Di Giacomo S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5626713 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature