The regulatory effects of apico-basal polarity on cell identity (360G-Wellcome-203896_Z_16_A)

My research will investigate changes in cell orientation (i.e. the way cells are organised in 3D space) in cells of the early embryo that can become all the cell types of the body. Crucially, we would like to understand if changes in cell orientation influence the decision of what specialised cell type (muscle, heart, blood etc.) these cells would become. Changing cell orientation could affect this process by altering the way cells perceive the signals that control their identity. Additionally, I am interested in analogous events during the emergence of cancerous cells in the epidermis where cell orientation may influence the natural suppression of tumour cell formation, a process that has been likened to wound healing. We will manipulate cell orientation by interfering with growth scaffolds, introducing genetic mutations or using chemical means to disrupt the cell internal structural scaffold, monitoring resulting changes in shape, orientation and cell identity by fluorescence imaging and computational analysis. This will help us control differentiation, tumorogenesis, and tissue repair.