中国神经再生研究(英文版) ›› 2024, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (9): 1863-1864.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.391185

• 观点:脑损伤修复保护与再生 • 上一篇    下一篇

打破大脑屏障:神经发育和疾病中的细胞竞争

  

  • 出版日期:2024-09-15 发布日期:2024-01-25

Breaking the brain barrier: cell competition in neural development and disease

Patrizia Morciano, Daniela Grifoni*   

  1. Department of “Life, Health and Environmental Sciences”, University of L’Aquila, Italy (Morciano P, Grifoni D)
    “INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso”, Assergi, Italy (Morciano P)
  • Online:2024-09-15 Published:2024-01-25
  • Contact: Daniela Grifoni, PhD, daniela.grifoni@univaq.it.
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by a collaborative project between “INFN - Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso” and University of L’Aquila, Dept. “Life, Health and Environmental Sciences” (to DG).

摘要: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7429-4062 (Daniela Grifoni)

Abstract: General information on cell competition: Social behaviors are the basis of biological life. Like species and populations, cell communities experience Darwinian ecological interactions, and in case space and nutrient availability are not uniform throughout the tissue, they begin to compete for ground occupancy. In the 1970s, studies carried out by Drosophila geneticists pioneered the concept of cell competition, observing that genetic heterogeneity in a developing tissue led to the elimination of suboptimal cells (called losers) and the concurrent expansion of the fittest (accordingly named winners). This mechanism fits the logic underlying organ development, where tissue heterogeneity due to the intermingling of cells from different compartments may disrupt the entire process. Decades after, cell competition was associated with different MYC levels in confronting cells: high-MYC-expressing cells repeatedly eliminated low-MYC-expressing neighbors and grew up to colonize the whole territory (Gallant, 2005). Subsequent studies led to the identification of MYC-mediated cell competition (MMCC) as a central process in embryonic development, from flies to mammals (Penzo-Mendez and Stanger, 2014). Over time, different molecules and pathways have been associated with cell competition, and now this mechanism is known to be active in different tissues and organs, engaging different cell histotypes, from flies to humans. Losers forfeit by death, cannibalism, displacement, differentiation or quiescence, and winners achieve by proliferation, survival, hypertrophy or stemness maintenance (Baker, 2020). Independent of where, when, and how it occurs, cell competition pursues the stereotyped functional principle of selecting and expanding the most appropriate cells in each specific condition. In this perspective, we discuss the most relevant findings on the role of cell competition in neural cells.