Role of septins in nondividing, remodeling epithelial tissues – SEPTISS

Septins are conserved cytoskeletal proteins with established roles in animal cell division. Recent studies have raised the possibility that septins play important unexplored roles in nondividing, remodeling tissues of developing animals. SEPTISS aims at elucidating the role of septins in vivo by studying the remodeling of the nondividing epithelial tissue during gastrulation of the Drosophila embryo. We hypothesize that septins provide resistance to tissue shape deformations. To determine the link between septins and tissue mechanics, SEPTISS combines biophysics, cell biology and optics instrumentation to probe the mechanics in septin-depleted tissues, to elucidate the molecular basis of septin function and to measure septin-dependent organization in remodeling epithelia. Our interdisciplinary approach promises to provide novel insights into cell division-independent septin functions in vivo.