Study of the Emerging Properties Arising at the Scale of the Embryo Driving Tissue Morphogenesiss – SEPASEDTM

The goal of the project is to understand how biophysical forces are generated and how they work to produce exquisitely precise and controlled tissue shape changes in embryo development. Tissue morphogenesis is a process by which the embryo is reshaped into the final form of a developed animal. Tissues are constituted by cells that are interconnected one another: local changes of cell mechanical properties and shape drive consequent tissue shape change. Nevertheless the knowledge per se of the mechanisms and mechanics at the cell level which drive cell shape changes is insufficient to explain how tissues change their shape. Emerging properties arise at higher scales resulting from the interaction of cells within tissues and of tissues coordinating and interacting with one another. Studying this is a great challenge both technologically and conceptually. From the technological perspective, new tools are needed to be able to visualize cells and to provide quantifiable data at high temporal and spatial resolution over large regions and across the entire embryo. New techniques are required to manipulate tissues with temporal and spatial specificity and to measure mechanical properties in different regions of an embryo. Conceptually, it is challenging to understand how different sheets of cells with different mechanical properties can interact within specific boundary conditions. I will use the Drosophila embryo as a model system and focus on the process of tissue folding, process that is vital for the animal since folding defects can impair neurulation in vertebrates and gastrulation in all animals which are organized into the three germ layers. My knowledge in cell and embryo biology together with my background in engineering, optics, multi-view light sheet microscopy and laser based embryo manipulation will ensure the success of this new project that aims to understand the mechanics and functions of tissue folding from the cell to the embryo scale. Finally this project will provide new knowledge on how biophysical forces sculpt functional living organisms.