Biophysics and Cell Biology of Signaling
We want to understand in physical and molecular terms how cells talk to each other during development. This means our research is highly interdisciplinary: physics, cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics... Indeed some of us in the lab are biologists, other physicists, chemists, engineers or mathematicians.
We are interested in the signaling events that control tissue growth: how is the shape and final size of a tissue achieved during embryogenesis?
We focus on two types of proliferation modes: growth control by morphogen gradients and asymmetric cell division in stem cells. We do this using two model systems: Drosophila and Zebrafish.
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Key Publications:
- Romanova Michailidi, M.; Hadjivasiliou, Z.; Aguilar-Hidalgo, D.; Basagiannis, D.; Seum, C.; Dubois-Barthelemy, M.; Jülicher, F.; Gonzalez Gaitan, M. Morphogen gradient scaling by recycling of intracellular Dpp. Nature 2021. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04346-w.
- Derivery, E.; Seum, C.; Daeden, A.; Loubery, S. P.; Holtzer, L. H.; Jülicher, F.; Gonzalez Gaitan, M. Polarized endosome dynamics by spindle asymmetry during asymmetric cell division. Nature 2015, 528 (7581), 280-285. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16443
- Wartlick, O.; Mumcu, P.; Kicheva, A. K.; Bittig, T.; Seum, C.; Julicher, F.; Gonzalez Gaitan, M. Dynamics of Dpp Signaling and Proliferation Control. Science 2011, 331 (6021), 1154-1159. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1200037.
- Coumailleau, Franck; Fürthauer, Maximilian; Knoblich, J. A.; González-Gaitán, Marcos (2009) Directional Delta and Notch trafficking in Sara endosomes during asymmetric cell division. Nature 458 (7241) 1051-1055.
- Kicheva, Anna; Pantazis, Periklis; Bollenbach, Tobias; Kalaidzidis, Yannis; Bittig, Thomas; Julicher, Frank; Gonzalez-Gaitan, Marcos (2007) Kinetics of Morphogen Gradient Formation. Science 315 (5811) 521-525.
- Martinez Merino, M.; Seum, C.; Dubois, M.; Gonzalez Gaitan, M. A role for Flower and cell death in controlling morphogen gradient scaling. Nature cell biology 2022. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-022-00858-3.
- Mateus Domingos, R.; Holtzer, L. H.; Seum, C.; Hadjivasiliou, Z.; Dubois-Barthelemy, M.; Jülicher, F.; Gonzalez Gaitan, M. BMP Signaling Gradient Scaling in the Zebrafish Pectoral Fin. Cell Reports 2020, 30 (12), 4292-4302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.03.024.
- Castanon Ortega, I.; Hannich, J. T.; Abrami, L.; Huber, F.; Dubois, M.; Muller, M. J.; van der Goot, F. G.; Gonzalez Gaitan, M. Wnt-controlled sphingolipids modulate Anthrax Toxin Receptor palmitoylation to regulate oriented mitosis in zebrafish. Nature Communications2020, 11 (3317). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17196-3.
- Aguilar-Hidalgo, D.; Werner, S.; Wartlick, O.; Gonzalez Gaitan, M.; Friedrich, B. M.; Jülicher, F. Critical Point in Self-Organized Tissue Growth. Physical Review Letters 2018, 120 (198102). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.198102.
- Kressmann, S.; Campos Ramos, C.; Castanon Ortega, I.; Fuerthauer, M.; Gonzalez Gaitan, M. Directional Notch trafficking in Sara endosomes during asymmetric cell division in the spinal cord. Nature Cell Biology 2015, 17 (3), 333-339. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3119.