Project description
Learning about childhood growth disorders from the humble fly
Growth and development are complex processes relying on numerous biochemical, electrical, and mechanical signals. The development of bilateral symmetry in multicellular organisms adds another layer of complexity, and it is not well understood. For example, scientists are still unsure of how exactly human arms, legs, eyes or kidneys grow in such a symmetrical way. The EU-funded GrowthDevStability project is studying mechanisms of bilateral symmetry development in the well-known fly Drosophila melanogaster. In this fly, a systemic circulating hormone is implicated, but its regulation and mechanism of action are not known. Teasing out the ways in which the hormone’s expression is regulated and, in turn, how the hormone regulates growth and development could provide a clue to understanding potential growth disruption in childhood as well as growth disorders associated with other conditions.
Objective
The overarching objective of the proposed project is to find how and when organs asses their growth status and which mechanisms are deployed to ensure fine size adjustment during normal animal development. As a model system, I will study the symmetrical growth of D. melanogaster, where the signaling hormone Dilp8 has been described as a central player to ensure developmental stability. However, Dilp8 regulation and mechanism of action remain elusive, providing an unprecedented framework to inquiry about the general phenomenon of growth adjustment. I will study when Dilp8 is required and in which organ it is produced during normal development. Also, I will identify signaling pathways regulating Dilp8 expression and the downstream effectors required for its action. This project will allow me to define for the first time how a systemic signal is activated and functions to adjust symmetrical growth in a bilateral model organism. The new concepts introduced by my investigation may help to better understand the pathophysiology of childhood growth disorders, as well as the growth disturbances observed in cancer survivors.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiologypathophysiology
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncology
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinator
75231 Paris
France