Laboratory for Morphogenetic Signaling
Research Areas
| Animal cells possess a great range of capabilities to sense environment, move, and differentiate to acquire specialized functions. Most of those autonomous functions are suppressed when a mass of cells give rise to a functional organ that consists of an array of differentiated cells with an ordered pattern. I am interested in uncovering signaling mechanisms that "socialize" cells to form a functional community during organogenesis. I will address this problem through analyses of two distinct types of organogenesis in Drosophila, development of appendages and the tracheal system. I will search for new gene functions involved in those processes and test their functions by the use of latest technologies of molecular imaging. 1. To understand the molecular basis for signaling systems regulating appendage development. Fundamental problems in appendage development are how cells in a two dimensional field of embryonic ectoderm interact to specify a new axis, proximal-distal, and how cell proliferation and differentiation are organized along this axis. We will search for genes involved in cell communication and cell sorting in appendage development by a large scale screening for gene functions. We will also address molecular mechanisms responsible for the specification of insect wings that share a common developmental origin as the leg but undergoes distinct developmental processes to acquire the flight function. 2. To understand the genetic basis for epithelial network formation A sheet of epithelium consisting of tightly connected cells is a basic unit for tubular organs. The tracheal system is a respiratory organ supplying the air directly into tissues by ramifying fine branches. Its formation is highly dynamic, driven by cell movement and cell rearrangement to match local demand for oxygen supply, while strictly maintaining epithelial integrity. We will address the problem of how tracheal cells respond to localized positional cues to construct highly ordered network of epithelia. |  Group Director Shigeo HAYASHI (Ph. D.)  |
Research Subjects
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List of Selected Publications
| (1) | Kato, K., and Hayashi, S.: "Practical guide of live imagining for developmental biologists." Develop. Growth Differ. 50:381-390 (2008) |
| (2) | Kakihara, K., Shinmyozu, K., Kato, K., Wada, H., and Hayashi, S.: "Conversion of plasma membrane topology during epithelial tube connection requires Arf-like 3 small GTPase in Drosophila." Mechanisms of Development , 125(3-4):325-336 (2008) |
| (3) | Shindo, M., Wada, H., Kaido, M., Tateno, M., Aigaki, T., Tsuda, L., and Hayashi, S.: "Dual function of Src in the maintenance of adherens junction during epithelial morphogenesis." Development 135(7):1355-64 (2008) |
| (4) | Nishimura, M., Inoue, Y., and Hayashi, S.: "A wave of EGFR signaling determines cell alignment and intercalation in the Drosophila tracheal placode." Development 134(23):4273-4282 (2007) |
| (5) | Sakurai, T.K., Kojima, T., Aigaki, T., and Hayashi, S.: "Differential control of cell affinity required for progression and refinement of cell boundary during Drosophila leg segmentation." Developmental Biology 309:126-136 (2007) |
| (6) | Kondo, T., Hashimoto, T., Kato, K., Inagaki, S., Hayashi, S., and Kageyama, Y.: "Small peptide regulators of actin-based cell morphogenesis encoded by a polycistronic mRNA." Nature Cell Biology 9(6):660-665 (2007) |
| (7) | Inoue, Y., and Hayashi, S.: "Tissue-specific laminin expression facilitates integrin-dependent association of the embryonic wing disc with the trachea in Drosophila." Developmental Biology 304:90-101 (2007). |
| (8) | Wada, A., Kato, K., Uwo, FM., Yonemura, S., and Hayashi, S.: "Specialized extraembryonic cells connect embryonic and extraembryonic epidermis in response to Dpp during dorsal closure in Drosophila." Developmental Biology 301:340-349 (2007). |
| (9) | Tsuda, L., Kaido, M., Young-Mi, L., Kato, K., Aigaki, T., and Hayashi, S.: "An NRSF/REST-like repressor downstream of Ebi/SMRTER/Su(H) regulates eye development in Drosophila." The EMBO Journal 25: 3191-3202 (2006). |
| (10) | Oshima, K., Takeda, M., Kuranaga, E., Ueda, R., Aigaki, T., Miura, M., and Hayashi, S.: "IKKε Regulates F Actin Assembly and Interacts with Drosophila IAP1 in Cellular Morphogenesis." Current Biology 16:1531-1537 (2006). |