Molecular Mechanisms for making tubes
Dates: | 13 May 2014 |
Times: | 15:30 - 17:00 |
What is it: | Seminar |
Organiser: | Faculty of Life Sciences |
Who is it for: | University staff, Current University students |
Speaker: | Katja Roper |
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This seminar is part of the Fly Club Seminar Listing.
The formation of tubular structures from epithelial sheets is a key process of organ formation in all animals, but the cytoskeletal rearrangements that cause the cell shape changes that drive tubulogenesis are not well understood. Analysing the tubulogenesis of the Drosophila salivary glands, we have recently shown that a supracellular actomyosin cable in the cells at the border of the gland primordium is involved in gland invagination. Positioning of this cable is determined by the anisotropic localisation of the apical polarity regulator Crumbs. We have also analysed the role of the second major cytoskeletal system, the microtubles, during this process and show that the microtubule cytoskeleton undergoes major rearrangements, including a 90ยบ change in alignment relative to the apicobasal axis, loss of centrosomal attachment and apical stabilisation. Disruption of the microtubule cytoskeleton leads to failure of apical constriction in placodal cells fated to invaginate. We show that this failure is due to loss of an apical medial actomyosin network whose pulsatile behaviour in wild-type embryos drives the apical constriction of the cells. The medial actomyosin network interacts with the minus ends of acentrosomal microtubule bundles through the cytolinker protein Shot, and disruption of Shot also impairs apical constriction.
Speaker
Katja Roper
Organisation: University of Cambridge
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AV Hill Room 1.006
AV Hill Building
Manchester