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Projekt
Coordination of morphogenetic actions across the entire organism
Antragstellerin
Professorin Maria Leptin, Ph.D.
Fachliche Zuordnung
Entwicklungsbiologie
Förderung
Förderung von 2014 bis 2018
Projektkennung
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 200509276
The folding of epithelial sheets is a widely used mechanism to create organ primordia or parts of organs during the development of multicellular organisms. The invagination of the mesoderm during gastrulation in the Drosophila embryo is a well-studied example of an epithelial folding. Studies in the past have focused on understanding the genetic control of epithelial folding and identifying the molecules that control the subcellular events responsible for the cell shape changes, and much is now known about the signalling cascades, the role of junctions and the cytoskeletal networks involved in the process. However, these constricting cells form part of a higher order assembly of cells in an epithelial context, and their actions must be coordinated with those cells to which they are directly attached, and their more distant neighbours. The aim of this project is to investigate the way in which the constricting cells interact with each other and with their surrounding cells, to determine what the properties of the cells are that allow the assembly of cells to behave such that the distortion caused by constriction affects the rest of the embryo in a productive manner, and finally, to determine how the way in which they are mechanically linked to each other influences their behaviours. We have established a way of imaging cell shapes throughout the developing embryo at high temporal and spatial resolution. This enables us to correlate precisely the behaviours of different cell population and draw conclusions about causalities. These can then be tested by genetic and physical manipulations. For example, we are able to fix cells in a given position, or connections can be severed by laser. Overall cell behavior can be modified by genetic means.
DFG-Verfahren
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