| Stress Management: Dissecting How Epithelial Tissues Flow and Fold Inside Developing Embryos |
| Karen Kasza, Columbia University |
| Event Type: Physics Dept Colloquium |
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| Time: 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM |
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| Location: 726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar |
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| Abstract: During embryonic development, groups of cells reorganize into functional tissues with complex form and structure. Tissue reorganization can be rapid and dramatic, often occurring through striking embryo-scale flows or folds that are mediated by the coordinated actions of hundreds or thousands of cells. These types of tissue movements can be driven by internal forces generated by the cells themselves or by external forces. While much is known about the molecules involved in these cell and tissue movements, it is not yet clear how these molecules work together to coordinate cell behaviors, give rise to emergent tissue mechanics, and generate coherent tissue movements at the embryo scale. To gain mechanistic insight into this problem, my lab develops and uses optogenetic technologies for manipulating mechanical activities of cells in the developing Drosophila embryo. First, I will discuss how mechanical forces are regulated in space and time to drive tissue flows that rapidly and symmetrically elongate the head-to-tail body axis of the embryo. Second, I will discuss some of our recent findings on the biological and physical mechanisms underlying distinct modes of generating curvature and folds in epithelial tissue sheets. |