Genetische Kontrolle der mesodermalen Zellwanderung in der Embryogenese von Drosophila

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Cell migration plays an important role during morphogenesis. In Drosophila, mesodermal cells migrate in a directed fashion to specific territories in the gastrula. The onset of this migration requires the activity of an FGF-receptor pathway. The goal of this research project is to determine how this instructive signal for cell migration is translated into behavioral changes of the moving cells. Because cell behavior during mesoderm migration has not been described in much detail, we will first analyze cellular morphologies and the timing of events during migration using living and fixed embryos. To analyze alterations in cell behavior, we will use embryonic cell cultures obtained from wild type and mutant embryos. We have identified mutants that show defects in mesodermal cell migration. These will allow us to examine the function of the respective genes, on the basis of the cellular phenotypes of the mutant embryos. The anticipated completion of the Drosophila genome project will permit straightforward molecular analysis of our mutants. We expect that interesting genes will be conserved among organisms and thus our genetic analysis in conjunction with the cell biological approaches will shed light on the cellular basis of directed cell migration.