Modulation of Cellular Differentiation and Morphology by Topography and its effects on the primary Cilium

Speaker           :   Sharvari Rajeev SATHE (Graduate Student, MBI, NUS)
Date                 :   27 February 2017, Monday
Time                :    4:30pm
Venue              :   MBI, T-lab, level 5 seminar rooms

Supervisor(s)  :   A/P Evelyn YIM

Abstract: The integration of contact guidance cues during differentiation and migration result in changes at the morphological level of cell and primary cilium architecture. To explore these processes, firstly, topography was used as a tool to modulate cell morphology and differentiation of neural progenitor cells. It was revealed that the processes of differentiation and morphology are correlated and these correlations were enhanced in gratings topography. The primary cilium is highly receptive to mechanical cues and is an important modulator of the cell migration process during development. Therefore, the topographical properties that affect primary cilium architecture were identified. Primary cilia were shown to have a size dependent response to topographical cues with a preference for microgratings. Further, to understand the influence of primary cilia during migration, a protein modulator (POPX2 phosphatase) with potential interactions at the primary cilium was employed to study cells on topographical substrates. The observation of enhanced mechanosensitivity of cells led to further inquisition into the roles of the primary cilium during cell movement. Finally, using topography as a guidance cue, cellular migration was analyzed along with influences on primary cilium architecture. Thus the presented work will elucidate the capacity of topographically mediated contact guidance to influence the processes of differentiation and migration that cause responses at the morphological level and primary cilium form.

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