Biosciences Research Seminar - Building and breaking epithelial tubes

During development, most organs in the body arise from epithelial tubes. Whilst some tubes arise via the folding of an already polarised epithelial tissue, others arise via de novo polarisation in the centre of a solid tissue. The mechanism by which polarity is initiated in the precisely correct location within these epithelial tubes is poorly understood. Our lab aims to understand how de novo polarisation is directed at the single cell level and how this is coordinated between neighbouring cells. We also aim to understand the role that a loss in apico-basal polarity might play in the disruption of epithelial integrity and initiation of disease.

We use zebrafish neural tube and mouse embryonic stem cell culture models to investigate these processes. In combination with high resolution in vivo imaging, we use an optogenetic approach to directly manipulate the polarity and signalling of single cells. Our early cell culture data points towards a conserved mechanism of de novo polarisation that is dependent on cell-cell adhesion.