Analysis of dynamics and protein turnover in integrin-mediated adhesion in drosphilia muscles.

多细胞生物体中的细胞排列在一系列非常不同的结构中。我的主要科学兴趣是确定细胞如何聚集在一起形成复杂的结构，然后，一旦形成，这些结构是如何维持的。我对决定细胞如何相互作用以及与环境相互作用的基本细胞机制感兴趣。我特别感兴趣的是细胞黏附在动物发育过程中是如何被利用的。我使用一种类型的黏附，细胞对细胞外基质的黏附，作为一个模型来解决关于黏附在发育中的作用的基本问题。整合素家族的黏附受体是黏附复合体的核心成分，黏附复合体对细胞与细胞外基质的黏附至关重要。整合素黏附的分解和组装受到严格的调控，但目前尚不清楚整合素周转的精确调控对动物发育有何贡献。我已经证明了使用标记的整合素相关蛋白在胚胎肌肉中的实时成像来可视化整合素黏附复合体的组装和动态是可能的。我已经证明了整合素黏附的动力学在发育过程中是不同的。许多与整合素黏附相关的蛋白质都是GFP标记的，整合素相关蛋白质的修饰改变了细胞培养中整合素黏附的动态，现在可以在果蝇身上使用。我将对整合素在苍蝇体内的黏附动力学进行系统的调查。

Cells in multicellular organisms are arranged in a remarkably diverse array of structures. My main scientific interest is in determining how cells come together to form complex structures and then, once formed, how such structures are maintained. I am interested in the basic cellular mechanisms that determine how cells interact with each other and with their environment. In particular I am interested in how cell adhesion is utilized during animal development. I use one type of adhesion, cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix, as a model to address fundamental question about the role of adhesion in development. Adhesion receptors of the integrin family are the core components of an adhesion complex that is important for the attachment of cells to the extracellular matrix. The disassembly and assembly of integrin adhesions is carefully regulated but it is currently not known in what ways the precise regulation of the turnover of integrin contributes to animal development. I have shown that it is possible to visualize the assembly and dynamics of integrin adhesion complexes using live imaging of tagged integrin associated proteins in embryonic muscles. I have shown that the dynamics of integrin adhesion vary during development. Many of the proteins associated with integrin adhesion are GFP-tagged and modifications in integrin-associated proteins that alter the dynamics of integrin adhesions in cell culture are now available in flies. I will carry out a systematic survey of turnover of integrin adhesion dynamics within the fly.