Nature Communications (Apr 2016)

Mechanical cell competition kills cells via induction of lethal p53 levels

  • Laura Wagstaff,
  • Maja Goschorska,
  • Kasia Kozyrska,
  • Guillaume Duclos,
  • Iwo Kucinski,
  • Anatole Chessel,
  • Lea Hampton-O’Neil,
  • Charles R. Bradshaw,
  • George E. Allen,
  • Emma L. Rawlins,
  • Pascal Silberzan,
  • Rafael E. Carazo Salas,
  • Eugenia Piddini

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11373
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

Read online

Cell competition is a quality control mechanism to eliminate unfit cells. Here the authors show that physical compaction of less fit cells surrounded by healthy neighbours leads to increased expression of tumour suppressor p53 in the compacted cells, causing cell death.