Integration of planar cell polarity and membrane trafficking during zebrafish gastrulation

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Animal development requires a diverse array of cell movement events to shape the body plan and generate an embryo with three distinct tissue layers. Significant among these movements is the process of collective migration whereby groups of polarized cells move in a directional manner while maintaining some level of contact with each other. However, the fundamental question of how this process is coordinated to promote the directional movement of large cell populations remains unanswered. This research project will address this question by utilizing the zebrafish as a genetic and embryological model system that can be manipulated using a variety of molecular techniques. In addition, the optical clarity of the zebrafish embryo affords the opportunity to perform microscopic imaging of cell migration in a live vertebrate animal. This project will determine (at both the cellular and biochemical levels) how specific proteins shown to be important for establishing cell polarity function to regulate collective or group cell migration events. This project is significant for the following reasons: (1) it will benefit society by providing novel insight into the complex process of collective cell migration, a process that is important for normal animal development and (2) it provides a unique training opportunity for post-doctoral scholars and undergraduate students to learn how to collect and analyze data from an animal model system.