Cell sorting at D/V compartment boundary

将组织划分为称为隔室的非混合细胞组，对于动物发育期间的生长和图案化是重要的。在果蝇中，发育中的翅膀最初被边界分为前室和后室，随后又分为背室和腹室。我们最近的工作表明，前后室边界是由两个细胞群体界面处的细胞边界上的机械张力的局部增加来维持的。在此，我们建议解决以下两个问题。第一，机械张力增加是隔室边界的共同特征吗？第二，机械张力是如何沿沿着隔室边界局部增加的？我们将在背腹侧区室边界的背景下解决这两个问题。我们将通过分析激光消融单个细胞边界时组织的局部松弛来测量机械张力。调节机械张力的分子机制将通过分析对翅膀发育重要的信号通路和粘附分子来解决。该项目有望获得动物发育过程中细胞分选的物理和分子机制的新见解。

The partitioning of tissues into groups of non-intermingling sets of cells, termed compartments, is important for growth and patterning during animal development. In Drosophila, the developing wing is subdivided initially by boundaries into anterior and posterior compartments, and subsequently also into dorsal and ventral compartments. Our recent work has suggested that the anteroposterior compartment boundary is maintained by a local increase in mechanical tension on cell boundaries where the two cell populations interface. Here, we propose to address the following two questions. First, is an increased mechanical tension a common feature of compartment boundaries? Second, how is mechanical tension locally increased along compartment boundaries? We will address both question in the context of the dorsoventral compartment boundary. We will measure mechanical tension by analyzing the local relaxation of the tissue in response to laser ablating individual cell boundaries. The molecular mechanisms regulating mechanical tension will be addressed by analyzing signaling pathways and adhesion molecules important for wing development. This project promises to gain new insights into the physical and molecular mechanisms that underlie cell sorting during animal development.