Project description
Cell adhesion proteins during development
Cadherins are a family of proteins that mediate physical contact between neighbouring cells and connect them to the internal cell skeleton, determining cell shape, tissue mechanics and morphogenetic movements. While the internal portion of cadherins is highly conserved across species, their external domains vary widely. How this variation influences cell adhesion and tissue organisation during embryonic development remains poorly understood. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the Cell-Con-volution project aims to compare cadherin function across vertebrates and invertebrates. The research team will express diverse cadherin variants in zebrafish embryos to study their effect on morphogenesis. Project findings will reveal how the molecular evolution of cell adhesion proteins drives the remarkable diversity of animal body forms.
Objective
As a zygote develops into a multicellular organism, cell contacts are crucial to shape the embryo. Metazoans utilize Cadherin proteins for adhesion in which the extracellular domains establish cell contacts and intracellular domains mechanically couple the cytoskeleton. The nature of the cell contact is critical for defining cell shapes and the physical properties of the tissue. While the intracellular domain is highly conserved, the architecture of their extracellular domains varies widely across species. How these differences influence cell contacts at the microscale and morphogenesis at the macroscale remains largely unexplored.
In this study, I will conduct a comparative analysis of cell contacts using widely diverse Cadherin extracellular domains from vertebrates, cephalochordates, arthropods, and cnidarians. I will express these exogenous Cadherins in zebrafish embryos and test their impacts on cell contacts at three levels. First, I will characterize Cadherin-mediated contacts at the single-cell level using biomimetic supported lipid bilayers. Second, I will quantify adhesion strength and cell contact dynamics in cell doublets. Finally, I will assess how different Cadherins influence morphogenetic movements at the tissue level in zebrafish development.
Together, this work will uncover fundamental principles of Cadherin extracellular domain evolution and its impact on cell adhesion. In this work, I will develop tools to carry out comparative analyses of cell adhesion which can potentially be transferred to other organisms. This work will help bridge the gap between molecular evolution, cell mechanics, and large-scale morphogenetic processes, revealing how evolution may utilize adhesion mechanisms to drive the diversity of life forms.
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. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine embryology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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3400 Klosterneuburg
Austria
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