# ELUCIDATING MECHANISMS OF CELL COMPETITION DURING DEVELOPMENT

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2022 · $378,366

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The goal of this proposal is to understand how cell competition regulates tissue growth during
development and how such mechanisms can be subverted during diseases like cancer. Our lab and other labs
have shown that genetic heterogeneity between neighboring populations provokes competitive interactions
between them, resulting in the selective elimination of the weaker population (the losers) and the expansion of
the stronger one (the winners). During classical cell competition wild-type cells eliminate viable but sub-optimal
cells. This type of cell competition functions as a quality control mechanism to selectively remove suboptimal
cells from a tissue. During super-competition, cells with higher levels of oncogenes like STAT and Myc kill their
wild-type neighbors. Super-competition functions during cancer progression and metastasis. While competitive
interactions are conserved and are increasingly well documented, the mechanisms regulating the elimination of
the weaker cells or the expansion of the stronger cells are poorly understood. Through next-generation
sequencing, we identified two soluble stress-responsive factors that are produced by STAT winners and that
promote their competitive fitness. Here, we will test the roles of these factors in cell competition. Aim 1 is focused
on the role of the damage-response pathway in disadvantaging losers or increasing winner fitness in super-
competition. Aim 2 will test the role of extracellular reactive oxygen species in killing losers and/or boosting
winner function in both classical cell competition and super-competition. We envision that our studies will
elucidate molecular and cellular events employed by pre-cancerous cells to establish themselves within a tissue
and that might be operative when these cells progress into fully neoplastic lesions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10476372
- **Project number:** 5R01GM085075-08
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Erika A Bach
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $378,366
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2009-02-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10476372

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10476372, ELUCIDATING MECHANISMS OF CELL COMPETITION DURING DEVELOPMENT (5R01GM085075-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10476372. Licensed CC0.

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