Centre de Biologie du Développement

Serge PLAZA :serge.plaza at univ-tlse3.fr
tel: +33 5 61 55 60 97


Francois PAYRE : francois.payre at univ-tlse3.fr
tel: +33 5 61 55 67 40

Centre de Biologie du Développement
UMR5547: CNRS/ Université de Toulouse
Bat4R3, 118 route de Narbonne
31062, Toulouse, France

Control of cell shape remodelling

While major advances have been made in our understanding of the progressive tissue specification during development, the translation of these regulatory cues into the remodelling of the shape of individual cells remains poorly understood.

We address this question focusing on the genetic networks that determine morphological differentiation of the Drosophila embryonic epidermis. Our studies demonstrate the role of a transcription factor, Shavenbaby (Svb), in determining the pattern of epidermal cell morphogenesis during development, and its diversification during evolution. We showed that the cis-regulatory regions of svb integrate positional and signalling cues emanating from upstream regulatory networks to define a subpopulation of epidermal cells that produce robust apical extensions, called denticles or trichomes. We identified downstream targets of Svb, demonstrating that Svb directly controls the expression of effectors of epidermal cell remodelling, identifying genes regulating the organization of cytoskeleton, membrane, extracellular matrix (ECM), etc... Svb thus provides a link between regulatory networks determining cell specification during development and a cellular program of terminal differentiation, controlling localized cell shape changes.

We further investigate the in vivo functions of several cellular effectors identified here, choosing those homologous to gene products implicated in human pathologies. Together, our studies have uncovered the unexpected role of apical ECM reorganization for cell morphogenesis. Also, our works provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms that regulate actin organization during invasive cell migration and cell division.