Integration of cell polarity, cell adhesion and actomyosin dynamics during epithelial morphogenesis

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Epithelial morphogenesis in multicellular organisms depends on the coordination of cell polarity, cell adhesion and cell contractility. In this project we plan to decipher the genetic, cell biological and biophysical basis that underlies the regulation of actomyosin self-assembly and dynamics and its relation to junctional plasticity during dorsal closure in the Drosophila embryo. For this, we will make us of a novel fluctuation-based imaging technique (Co-moving Kinetic Analysis, COKA) to decipher the biochemical reaction network that gives rise to actomyosin cortical kinetics and dynamics. We will investigate the function of Crumbs, an apical regulator of epithelial polarity, on regulating actomyosin dynamics. Furthermore, we will investigate how the zonula adherens impacts actomyosin self-assembly and homeostasis, to identify the role that junctional components have in regulating actomyosin dynamics. Our work will identify how Crumbs, apico-basal cell polarity and the zoula adherens regulate dynamics of the actomyosin cytoskeletal dynamics to drive dorsal closure, an essential morphogenetic process in Drosophila development.