Discussion about cell competition by competitive Lotka-Volterra model

      When normal cells and mutated cell are mixed in a tissue, one eliminates the other. Then size of the tissue does not change. This is called cell competition. In many cases, cells of Drosophila are used in the studies about cell competition. In this study, we used mammalian cells and mathematical model for analyzing the dynamics of cells in cell competition. The mathematical model (competitive Lotka-Volterra model) has two important parameters: saturation cell number and influence on another type of cells. If a mutation sufficiently increases saturation cell number and the influence on normal cells, mutated cell will eliminate normal cells independent of initial cell number. On the other hand, when saturation cell number is not so different and both normal cells and mutated cells have significant influence on another type of cells, the result may change depending on initial cell number.