RESEARCH GROUPS

Cell Fitness

ABOUT

Cell Fitness

Moreno Lab

Humans are able to detect fitness decay in colleagues by looking at the graying of the hair or the wrinkles in their faces. Work from my laboratory in the last few years has shown that cells can also detect fitness levels of neighboring cells using a molecular code. Those “fitness fingerprints” (Rhiner et al., Dev.Cell, 2010; Merino et al., Curr. Biol., 2013) can be used to mediate cell selection by recognizing and eliminating less fit cells during ageing (Merino et al., Cell, 2015), regeneration (Moreno et al., Curr. Biol., 2015) and cancer (Levayer et al., Nature 2015).

Info

Main Interests

The mechanisms by which cells of multicellular animals perform fitness detection and selection of neighbouring cells

Methods

Genetics, microscopy, live imaging

Models and Regions

Epithelial and neuronal tissue / Human cells, mouse and fruit fly

Opportunities

If you are interested in joining our group, please contact Eduardo Moreno at the email address bellow.

eduardo.moreno@research.fchampalimaud.org

Lab Webpage

moreno-lab.org

PROJECTS

Cell Fitness

Know our Projects

We are generally interested in how cells of multicellular animals can detect the fitness of neighboring cells selecting the fittest cells. This is a fundamental process that has implications in several broader fields, for example:

1. Ageing

2. Cancer

3. Neurobiology

TEAM

Cell Fitness

Know our Team

Eduardo Moreno

Eduardo Moreno, PhD

Principal Investigator

Denise Camacho

Denise Camacho

External PhD Student

Catarina Costa

Catarina Costa

Masters Student

Pedro Durão

Pedro Durão

Masters Student

Maria Bettencourt

Maria Bettencourt

PhD Student

Ana Cristina Queirós

Ana Cristina Queirós, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Catarina Brás Pereira

Catarina Brás Pereira, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dina Coelho

Dina Coelho, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Andrea Spinazzola

Andrea Spinazzola

Student

Andrés Gutiérrez

Andrés Gutiérrez

Student

Irene Argudo

Irene Argudo

Student

Maria Carolina Rodrigues

Maria Carolina Rodrigues

Student

Mariana Reis

Mariana Reis

Student

Miguel Pinto

Miguel Pinto

Student

Joana Couceiro

Joana Couceiro

Technician

António Palma

António Palma

Visiting Fellow

Maria Leonor Peixoto

Maria Leonor Peixoto

Visiting Fellow

Esha Gogna

Esha Gogna, PhD

Visiting Scientist

Rajan Gogna

Rajan Gogna, PhD

Visiting Scientist

Telma Carrilho

Telma Carrilho

Lab Administrator

PUBLICATIONS

Know our Publications

Dina S. Coelho, Silvia Schwartz, Marisa M. Merino, Barbara Hauert, Barbara Topfel, Christa Rhiner and Eduardo Moreno (2018)

Culling less fit neurons protects against amyloid-Beta-induced brain damage and cognitive and motor decline

Cell Rep, (doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.11.098)

Moreno E; Valon L; Levillayer F; Levayer R (2018)

Competition for Space Induces Cell Elimination through Compaction-Driven ERK Downregulation

Curr. Biol., (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.11.007)

Germani F; Hain D; Sternlicht D; Moreno E; Basler K (2018)

The Toll pathway inhibits tissue growth and regulates cell fitness in an infection-dependent manner

eLife, (doi:10.7554/eLife.39939)

Levayer R, Dupont C, Moreno E. (2016)

Tissue Crowding Induces Caspase-Dependent Competition for Space.

Curr. Biol. S0960-9822 (16), 00059-2 (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.072)

Merino MM, Levayer R, Moreno E (2016)

Survival of the Fittest: Essential Roles of Cell Competition in Development, Aging, and Cancer

Trends Cell Biol., (doi:10.1016/j.tcb.2016.05.009)

Levayer, R., Hauert, B. and Moreno, E (2015)

Cell mixing induced by myc is required for competitive tissue invasion and destruction

Nature, (doi:10.1038/nature14684)

Merino MM, Rhiner C, Lopez-Gay JM, Buechel D, Hauert B, Moreno E (2015)

Elimination of unfit cells maintains tissue health and prolongs lifespan

Cell, (doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.12.017)

Merino MM, Rhiner C, Portela M, Moreno E (2013)

"Fitness fingerprints" mediate physiological culling of unwanted neurons in Drosophila

Curr. Biol., (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2013.05.053)

Moreno, E. (2012)

Design and Construction of ‘‘Synthetic Species’’

PLoS ONE, (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039054)

Rhiner C, López-Gay JM, Soldini D, Casas-Tinto S, Martín FA, Lombardía L, Moreno E (2010)

Flower Forms an Extracellular Code that Reveals the Fitness of a Cell to its Neighbors in Drosophila

Portela M, Casas-Tinto S, Rhiner C, López-Gay JM, Domínguez O, Soldini D, Moreno E (2010)

Drosophila SPARC is a self-protective signal expressed by loser cells during cell competition

Moreno, E. (2008)

Is cell competition relevant to cancer?

Nat. Rev. Cancer,

Moreno E, Basler K (2004)

dMyc transforms cells into super-competitors

Cell, (doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(04)00262-4)

Moreno E, Basler K, Morata G (2002)

Cells compete for Decapentaplegic survival factor to prevent apoptosis in Drosophila wing development