Patterning of the epithelial planar polarized microtubule cytoskeleton

• Applicant: Dr. Maja Matis
• Subject Area: Cell Biology ; Developmental Biology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 432241631

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The hallmark of tissue development is collective cell behavior, where the precise integration of locally produced mechanical forces into a global tissue force pattern is a key determinant of cell and tissue shape. Consistently, processes where this force coordination has gone awry constitute the cellular basis for numerous diseases, developmental defects, and aberrant wound healing and have also been associated with several types of cancer. While the role of actin in generating mechanical force is well established, the role of microtubules (MTs) during morphogenesis is still limited. This is in part because many current models of tissue mechanics focus primarily on actomyosin dynamics or rely on continuum mechanics, providing only a partial view of the physical mechanisms driving morphogenesis. These models, based on global observations of cell movements or shape changes, do not fully explore the physico-mechanical context of MT dynamics during tissue remodeling. To address this gap, we proposed in this project a multi-scale study combining biochemical and genetic characterization of MTs with quantitative measurements of cell and tissue remodeling. Our goal was to unravel the precise mechanisms by which the MT cytoskeleton aligns locally produced forces into a global tissue force pattern.

Publications

• The Mechanical Role of Microtubules in Tissue Remodeling. BioEssays, 42(5).
  Matis, Maja
  
• Distributed model order reduction of a model for microtubule-based cell polarization using HAPOD
  Leibner T., Matis M., Ohlberger M. & Rave S.
  
• The Microtubule Minus-End Binding Protein Patronin Is Required for the Epithelial Remodeling in the Drosophila Abdomen. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 9.
  Panzade, Sadhana & Matis, Maja
  
• CFM: Confinement Force Microscopy-a dynamic, precise and stable microconfiner for traction force microscopy in spatial confinement.
  Abbasi, Fatemeh; Rieck, Katharina; Brandt, Matthias; Matis, Maja & Betz, Timo
  
• Dynamic interplay of microtubule and actomyosin forces drive tissue extension. Nature Communications, 15(1).
  Singh, Amrita; Thale, Sameedha; Leibner, Tobias; Lamparter, Lucas; Ricker, Andrea; Nüsse, Harald; Klingauf, Jürgen; Galic, Milos; Ohlberger, Mario & Matis, Maja