Rhiner, ChristaLópez-Gay, Jesús M.Soldini, DavideCasas Tintó, SergioMartín Castro, Francisco AntonioLombardía, LuisMoreno, Eduardo2025-12-022025-12-022010-06-15Rhiner C, López-Gay JM, Soldini D, Casas-Tinto S, Martín FA, Lombardía L, Moreno E. Flower forms an extracellular code that reveals the fitness of a cell to its neighbors in Drosophila. Dev Cell. 2010 Jun 15;18(6):985-98. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2010.05.010. PMID: 20627080.1534-580710.1016/j.devcel.2010.05.010https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/128281We thank K. Basler, S. Carroll, M.F. Ruiz, L. Sanchez, G. Morata, N. Baker, the Developmental Hybridoma Bank, and the Bloomington and Vienna VDRC stock centers for materials; Guadalupe Luengo and the Genomic Unit of CNIO; Fernando Roncal, Leonor Kremer, and Giovanna Roncador for help in antibody production; Diego Megías and María Montoya for help with confocal microscopy; Miguel Torres and Offer Gerlitz for critically reading the manuscript; Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo for discussions about the evolution of multicellularity, and the European Research Council, the Fundación Mutua Madrileña, the Fundación Caja Madrid, and the Comunidad of Madrid for support.Cell competition promotes the elimination of weaker cells from a growing population. Here we investigate how cells of Drosophila wing imaginal discs distinguish "winners" from "losers" during cell competition. Using genomic and functional assays, we have identified several factors implicated in the process, including Flower (Fwe), a cell membrane protein conserved in multicellular animals. Our results suggest that Fwe is a component of the cell competition response that is required and sufficient to label cells as "winners" or "losers." In Drosophila, the fwe locus produces three isoforms, fwe(ubi), fwe(Lose-A), and fwe(Lose-B). Basal levels of fwe(ubi) are constantly produced. During competition, the fwe(Lose) isoforms are upregulated in prospective loser cells. Cell-cell comparison of relative fwe(Lose) and fwe(ubi) levels ultimately determines which cell undergoes apoptosis. This "extracellular code" may constitute an ancient mechanism to terminate competitive conflicts among cells.engjournal article1878-1551https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2010.05.010https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1534580710002182?via%3Dihubrestricted access595.77576591.15591.3ZoologíaInsectosBiología celular (Biología)2413 Biología de Insectos (Entomología)2407 Biología Celular2401.05 desarrollo Animal2401.08 Genética Animal