Bilateral BBSRC-NSF/BIO: Asymmetric division and the temporal dynamics of cell motility

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This collaborative project between researchers in the US (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) and the UK (University of Manchester) aims to define the fundamental mechanisms controlling cell migration during organ development. In growing tissues, cells usually divide symmetrically to produce two identical daughter cells. However, in some instances cell divisions are asymmetric and give rise to intrinsically distinct daughters that have different characteristics including the ability to move (or motility). This project will explore the molecular and cellular basis of post-cell division asymmetry in cell motility and define the functional role of asymmetric divisions in the control of cell migration during tissue growth. Not only will this research generate freely available novel computational methods and analysis tools suitable for a wide array of applications, the findings of this work will have wide-reaching implications for understanding the control of cell migration across a plethora of cellular systems and organisms. Through its broader impacts, the project will additionally expose undergraduate and high school students (with emphasis on recruiting underrepresented groups) to integrated cross-disciplinary computational / experimental scientific approaches and provide hands-on experience of international collaborative research techniques upon the creation of several new, targeted, interactive Global Interface Science (GIS) workshops. Moreover, guidance on implementing similar GIS workshops anywhere worldwide will be widely disseminated via online media. Asymmetric cell division (ACD) specifies differential daughter cell fates in many systems, but has never before been implicated in determining the temporal dynamics of cell motility. This project will define how ACD acts as a novel symmetry-breaking mechanism to ensure daughter cells acquire distinct motilities during tissue growth. An integrated in silico and in vivo approach will be taken, innovating a novel multiscale hybrid, spatiotemporal agent-based model (ABM) that will inform single-cell live imaging experiments of endothelial cells in zebrafish embryos. These studies will probe ACD in motile cells, validate model predictions and altogether elucidate a previously unexplored role for mitosis in the control of migration. In particular, the interplay of ACD with cell signaling, geometry and mechanical motility cues across different scales, from the molecular to the cellular will be investigated through the following tasks: A) develop new modeling methodologies to investigate the role of localized intracellular dynamics in the establishment of asymmetric post-mitotic motility and functionally validate model predictions at sub-cellular resolution in vivo; B) Predict the effects of ACD-driven differences in cell architecture on motility dynamics in silico alongside quantification of dynamic alterations in cell architecture occurring during division in vivo; C) quantify pre- and post-mitotic fluctuations in cell tension at single-cell resolution in vivo and define the interplay of cell tension with the induction of ACD and differential motility in silico and in vivo. The products of this research will include novel computational ABM models and image analysis software, which will uniquely enable studies of key aspects of cell migration and will be made freely available to the wider scientific community. In additional broader impacts, the PIs will organize international workshops to provide a platform for promoting the widespread use of similar integrated in silico / in vivo approaches in studies of tissue morphogenesis across diverse cellular systems and organisms.This collaborative US/UK project is supported by the US National Science Foundation and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Within NSF, the award is cofunded by the Division of Molecular And Cellular Biosciences and the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems.