Apical constriction is a cell shape change that drives fundamental events of morphogenesis, including gastrulation in many animals and neural tube formation in vertebrates. An understanding of the mechanisms by which cells shrink their apical domains will provide insights into how animals are shaped, and it will contribute to a basic foundation for the diagnosis and prevention of human neural tube closure defects. The long-term goal of this project is to understand how forces are produced and transmitted with spatiotemporal precision to shape cells and tissues in developing organisms. C. elegans gastrulation serves as a model for revealing mechanisms of apical constriction-dependent morphogenesis. Gastrulation in C. elegans begins with two endodermal precursor cells undergoing apical constriction and moving from the embryo's surface to the interior, at the 26- to 28-cell stage of embryonic development. Using C. elegans makes it possible to combine in a single system many tools that are valuable in other model systems, including tools used primarily in cultured cell systems in which some complex developmental phenomena cannot be studied. These tools include genetic screens and genetic manipulations, quantitative imaging of subcellular dynamics in two large, predictably positioned and optically clear cells, probing of forces by laser microsurgery, and some newly developed tools.
The specific aims of this project are to dissect precise mechanisms by which apical constriction is triggered by connecting the edges of the cells' apical surfaces to pre-existing actomyosin contractions, to determine the role of extracellular matrix in apical constriction by studying an extracellular matrix component that contributes to C. elegans gastrulation, and to identify and study new proteins that contribute to the mechanisms studied above. The work has the potential to establish new and unexpected mechanisms for a developmental cell shape change that is important to morphogenesis in diverse animals and with potential relevance to human neural tube defects.

Public Health Relevance

Neural tube defects comprise the second leading class of birth defects, occurring annually in approximately 300,000 newborns worldwide. This proposal seeks to understand apical constriction, a change in cell shape that contributes to successful neural tube closure, using the roundworm C. elegans as a simple model for efficient investigation of cellular and molecular mechanisms. The long-term goal of the work is to understand fundamental mechanisms that can lay the foundation for future diagnosis and prevention of neural tube defects.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM083071-11
Application #
9566205
Study Section
Development - 2 Study Section (DEV2)
Program Officer
Hoodbhoy, Tanya
Project Start
2008-06-01
Project End
2020-07-31
Budget Start
2018-08-01
Budget End
2019-07-31
Support Year
11
Fiscal Year
2018
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
608195277
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Heppert, Jennifer K; Pani, Ariel M; Roberts, Allyson M et al. (2018) A CRISPR Tagging-Based Screen Reveals Localized Players in Wnt-Directed Asymmetric Cell Division. Genetics 208:1147-1164
Fadero, Tanner C; Gerbich, Therese M; Rana, Kishan et al. (2018) LITE microscopy: Tilted light-sheet excitation of model organisms offers high resolution and low photobleaching. J Cell Biol 217:1869-1882
Pani, Ariel M; Goldstein, Bob (2018) Direct visualization of a native Wnt in vivo reveals that a long-range Wnt gradient forms by extracellular dispersal. Elife 7:
Yumerefendi, Hayretin; Wang, Hui; Dickinson, Daniel J et al. (2018) Light-Dependent Cytoplasmic Recruitment Enhances the Dynamic Range of a Nuclear Import Photoswitch. Chembiochem 19:1319-1325
Martinez, Pablo; Allsman, Lindy A; Brakke, Kenneth A et al. (2018) Predicting Division Planes of Three-Dimensional Cells by Soap-Film Minimization. Plant Cell 30:2255-2266
Naegeli, Kaleb M; Hastie, Eric; Garde, Aastha et al. (2017) Cell Invasion In Vivo via Rapid Exocytosis of a Transient Lysosome-Derived Membrane Domain. Dev Cell 43:403-417.e10
Zallen, Jennifer A; Goldstein, Bob (2017) Cellular mechanisms of morphogenesis. Semin Cell Dev Biol 67:101-102
Ladouceur, A-M; Ranjan, Rajesh; Smith, Lydia et al. (2017) CENP-A and topoisomerase-II antagonistically affect chromosome length. J Cell Biol 216:2645-2655
Dickinson, Daniel J; Schwager, Francoise; Pintard, Lionel et al. (2017) A Single-Cell Biochemistry Approach Reveals PAR Complex Dynamics during Cell Polarization. Dev Cell 42:416-434.e11
Linden, Lara M; Gordon, Kacy L; Pani, Ariel M et al. (2017) Identification of regulators of germ stem cell enwrapment by its niche in C. elegans. Dev Biol 429:271-284

Showing the most recent 10 out of 43 publications