Research Interests
We study the generation of cell and tissue shape through the use of advanced imaging and genetic techniques. Tissue architecture is the result of coordinated cell shaping events that drive final organismal and tissue shape and function. A loss of defined tissue architecture is a hallmark of many human diseases including cancer. Our lab's work focuses on the intersection of membrane trafficking networks, cytoskeletal pathways and epithelial morphogenetic processes in the early Drosophila embryo. We are also interested in extending biophysical approaches to develop novel quantitative methods to measure physical cell properties, and have an extensive collaboration with our friends in the Loerke lab (Physics Department at DU).
Despite the intense interest in early morphogenesis, the trafficking networks that are available to cell shaping processes in the Drosophila embryos have not been intensively studied in the early embryo. Our work has focused on two main processes: 1) the pathways that drive ingression and formation of a plasma membrane furrow, and 2) the mechanisms that direct progressive cell shape changes during cell intercalation. Recent work from the lab has examined the coordination between membrane trafficking and actomyosin networks to drive interfacial ratcheting, as well as the characterization of MBT-driven pathways of rapid furrow formation during the syncytial divisions. |