Maria Fomicheva
Moscow Lomonosov State University
Ian Macara lab
Epithelial cells stop dividing when they reach a certain density. This mechanism prevents tissue overgrowth and is lost in cancer. To identify novel genes that are required for density-dependent arrest, I transduced cells with a pooled CRISPR-Cas9 whole genome knockout library, and selected for cells that proliferated at high density. I performed deep sequencing of the integrated sgRNA cassettes and identified the list of genes that have been enriched compared to the unsorted control. I validated the role of enriched candidate genes in cell density establishment. Currently I am working on identification of the mechanisms that the candidate genes employ to control cell density.