On this page
Mechanisms of quality control that act to maximize tissue health, or “fitness,” on the cellular and tissue level have not been well defined. Our research group studies quality control during tissue morphogenesis and maintenance through the lens of cell competition. Cell competition is a conserved, yet poorly understood, phenomenon of growth control that is likely to have serious implications for heterogeneous cell-cell interactions within tissues and in stem cells during development, homeostasis, and in disease. Research in our group explores the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie competitive behaviours. Our studies test the hypothesis that cell competition plays a central, protective role in shaping the tissue-level response to stresses.
Our group employs a multidisciplinary tool-kit – drawing from genetics, cell biology and quantitative biology - to ask mechanistic questions about epithelial tissue organisation and growth control across scales. We use the mouse skin as a model system because it has a well-defined developmental program, is genetically tractable, and is compatible with our favourite approaches to study cell behaviour and cell-cell interactions – immunofluorescence and live imaging! We previously established the skin as a physiologically relevant system in which to study mammalian cell competition. Our ultimate goal is to use our tools to uncover basic principles of growth control in complex epithelial tissues as they grow, differentiate, reach their final size, and contend with threats to their homeostasis.
Stephanie obtained her PhD from the University of British Columbia where she studied cell adhesion in the fly embryo with Guy Tanentzapf. She then completed her post-doctoral training with Elaine Fuchs at Rockefeller University supported by HFSP, NYSCF and NIH-K99 fellowships. Stephanie opened her research group at the Max Perutz Labs as an Assistant Professor at the University of Vienna in February 2022.
We previously found that cell competition is essential for barrier formation in skin. However, what determines fitness on a molecular level, and indeed, whether fitness is a heritable trait, remains unexplored. We use transcriptomics, functional genetics, lineage tracing and live imaging to uncover novel genes and cell behaviours that confer fitness in skin progenitors during growth/regeneration.
We previously identified a developmentally-regulated switch in the mode by which less fit cells are eliminated from the epidermis. The signals that mediate this transition and ensure maintenance of epithelial integrity during elimination events are unknown. We have identified candidate regulators of this process that we will interrogate via functional genetics and quantitative imaging approaches.
Cell competition is proposed to impinge on tumour initiation/progression as a tumour suppressor in some contexts and as a malignant driver in others. Our group will use models of squamous cell carcinoma to clarify the role of cell competition in tumorigenesis, and moreover, to understand the perceived threshold that determines whether cell competition will restrain or promote oncogenic growth.
Many inflammatory genetic diseases manifest mosaically in patients. We hypothesize that cell competition underlies the etiology of these diseases and will use mouse and organoid models to interrogate this possibility. In the long term, our strategy may inform new therapeutic avenues.
Stem cell progeny liaisons in regeneration.
Ellis, Stephanie J; Fuchs, Elaine
Distinct modes of cell competition shape mammalian tissue morphogenesis.
Ellis, Stephanie J; Gomez, Nicholas C; Levorse, John; Mertz, Aaron F; Ge, Yejing; Fuchs, Elaine
Basal Cell-Extracellular Matrix Adhesion Regulates Force Transmission during Tissue Morphogenesis.
Goodwin, Katharine; Ellis, Stephanie J; Lostchuck, Emily; Zulueta-Coarasa, Teresa; Fernandez-Gonzalez, Rodrigo; Tanentzapf, Guy
Voyage of the Starships: giant transposons as crucibles of evolution
Parthenogenesis, cryptobiosis, and the survival in extreme environmental conditions
Evading ageing: Mitochondrial and proteostatic adaptations in oocytes
Genomes in Rhodnius prolixus symbiotic system
Stem cells, immune evasion and metastasis in colorectal cancer
Ubiquitin & Friends Symposium 2024
The Ubiquitin & Friends Symposium is an annual international meeting taking place in the beautiful capital of Austria, aiming to bring together scholars from various fields studying ubiquitin/Ubl biology and protein degradation in a personal, family-like atmosphere, as suggested by the name.
The evolution and development of mollusc shells
Unraveling the Complexity of Crossover Regulation in C. elegans
Dynamics of 3D Genome Structure and Function
How superworms can help to solve our plastic waste crisis
Title to be announced
New players in an old pathway: biology of methanogens of the TACK superphylum
Shaping morphogen gradients: from molecules to tissues and back
Title to be announced
Studying stressed cells by in situ structural biology
Exploring Microbial Resilience: Unravelling Escherichia coliand#x27;s Stress Response at the Level of Protein Synthesis
Arbuscular mycorrhiza development and function
Deep homology and deep diversity: Evolving genetic toolkits for making and sensing light
The evolution of cell type identity and tissue microecology at the fetal-maternal interface
The unanticipated roles of PICIs and phages in bacterial evolution
Chemical targeting of subcellular protein localization
Origin and diversification of gut-derived organs in chordates
Job's Dilemma for the Genome: Why Bad Things Happen to Good Chromosomes
Connections between carbon and nitrogen cycling in the ocean
Understanding how the DNA-loop-extruding protein complex Condensin folds a chromatinized genome into mitotic chromosomes
DrugMap: A quantitative pan-cancer analysis of cysteine ligandability
From Roads to Rivers? Occurrence and environmental fate of tire and road wear particles and of tire-related chemicals
FENS 2024 Satellite event: Home cage behavior monitoring at the interface of animal welfare and neuroscience
Striking physiology and cell biology of (marine) environmental microorganisms
Mechanisms controlling maintenance of cohesin dependent loops
Title to be announced