Grant: Project Grant

To build an animal during embryonic development, cells must move and rearrange to form and position tissues and organs. In fluid-like tissues, cells undergo extensive rearrangements while in solid-like tissues cells are more stationary. Quick transitions between solid- and fluidlike states are critical for normal embryonic development. In addition, such transitions are highly relevant to health-related processes such as wound healing and cancer metastasis, both of which involve transitions from more stationary to more mobile cells. Our work aims to understand the control of tissue transitions by focusing on a specific molecular pathway and process of cell internalization in the zebrafish embryo. The zebrafish is a well-established vertebrate model system with many experimental advantages for investigating cellular and molecular control of development. We use genetics to generate mutant lines of genes of interest to understand their function. We also visualize cells and tissues with advanced microscopy. The molecules that orchestrate tissue transitions and govern development have counterparts that carry out similar functions in humans. Thus, zebrafish research enables rapid advances that can inform strategies for tissue engineering and cancer therapies.