During embryonic development, many morphogenetic changes that form complex tissue and organ structures are driven by remodeling of epithelial tissues, the failure of which can lead to various congenital birth defects. Epithelial morphogenesis is an intrinsically mechanical process dictated by cellular forces and tissue mechanical properties. To date, we have gained extensive knowledge about the genetic regulations of morphogenesis. What remains less clear is the way how these genes coordinately regulate the behavior of cells to generate different tissue forms. Our lab addresses this question by combining genetics, live-embryo-imaging, optogenetics and biophysical approaches. We use Drosophila embryo as our model because of the array of genetic tools available and its easy accessibility for live-imaging and biophysical analyses, which make it an excellent system to study the interplay between genetic activities and tissue mechanics.
Mechanical mechanisms of epithelial folding
Epithelial folding provides a fundamental tissue construction mechanism in embryonic development, a process often mediated by apical constriction. We seek to understand how cells respond to apical constriction to change shape in 3D and how an “in-plane” constriction drives “out-of-the-plane” bending of the tissue.
Bing He Lab
Interplay between intracellular trafficking and tissue mechanics
During tissue morphogenesis, cell shape changes resulting from cell-generated forces often require active regulation of intracellular trafficking. We seek to understand how mechanical stimuli influence intracellular trafficking and how such regulation impacts tissue mechanics.
Bing He Lab
Apical-basal polarity, cell-cell adhesion & morphogenesis
Apical basal polarity and cell-cell adhesion are fundamental features of epithelial tissues. We seek to understand how remodeling of cell polarity and adhesion impacts the dynamic remodeling of epithelia during morphogenesis.
Bing He Lab
Optogenetic manipulation of myosin contractility
Actomyosin contractility provides a common force generation mechanism in development. The Opto-Rho1DN optogenetic tool described in our recent work provides an effective approach to acutely disrupt the myosin-dependent force generation machinery.
Bing He Lab
Zygotic regulation of cortical myosin during cellularization
Drosophila cellularization is a special form of cleavage that converts syncytial embryos into cellular blastoderms by partitioning the peripherally localized nuclei into individual cells. Similar to canonical animal cytokinesis, cellularization initiates by the recruitment of non-muscle myosin II (“myosin”) to the basal tip of cleavage furrows. We seek to understand how maternal and zygotic gene activities coordinate to regulate cortical myosin during cellularization.