Heterotypic Immune-Epithelial Interactions Shape Drosophila Wing Morphogenesis

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Milos Galic; Dr. Maja Matis
• Subject Area: Cell Biology ; Biophysics ; Developmental Biology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 564741436

During Drosophila wing development, the epithelial tissue undergoes extensive remodeling to achieve its final shape. This process relies on various cellular behaviors, including changes in cell morphology, cell proliferation, oriented cell division, cell intercalation, as well as cell death. Although apoptosis reportedly serves multiple functions, its role in regulating organ size and shape, particularly in rapidly expanding tissues such as the Drosophila wing, remains underexplored. A second prominently represented cell type in the developing wing are macrophages, scavengers tasked among others with clearing apoptotic cell debris. Loss of macrophages leads to impaired wing development, establishing the importance of interactions between immune and epithelial cells for wing morphogenesis. The nature of these heterotypic cell-cell interactions, however, remains unknown. Here, we will combine our expertise in genetics, developmental biology, cell- and tissue mechanics, quantitative image analysis, biophysics, nanotechnology, and immunology to unravel how heterotypic interactions between tissue-resident immune cells and the growing epithelial tissue jointly coordinate Drosophila wing development.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 2493: Heterotypic Cell-Cell Interactions in Epithelial Tissues (HetCCI)