Dissecting single cell dynamics that coordinate neural crest migration and diversification

NIH Pandemic-Era Grants

Pandemic Era Grants

2024

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Principal Investigator: Qing  Nie
Organization: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $541,385
Funding agency: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

RESEARCH SUMMARY
Embryonic development involves the formation of functional organs comprised of many
different cell types, which often originate from different locations. Thus cell migration and
differentiation must be tightly coordinated, but are typically studied as independent
processes. Here we use a combination of gene expression profiling in single cells,
zebrafish genetics and computational models to test the hypothesis that migration and
differentiation are coordinated. This coordination requires specific regulators of cell
adhesion dynamics and cell-cell signaling. We focus on neural crest cells, a transient
embryonic population that migrates throughout the body to give rise to a huge range of
different fates. One barrier to studying this problem has been the limited number of tools
available to detect transitional states in individual cells as they differentiate and tie this to
their migratory behaviors in a precise and quantitative manner. Here we develop new
approaches for profiling gene expression in single cells from known locations and
tracking their movements in vivo. We will analyze how genes required for cell adhesion
and cell-cell signaling influence these processes, and use computational models to
predict key features of neural crest cell responses. We expect that such a
multidisciplinary approach will reveal insights into the mechanisms that integrate cell
migration and fate.

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