Date of Graduation

5-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Biomedical Engineering

Advisor/Mentor

Pare, Adam

Abstract

The development of complex structures and organs by multicellular organisms relies on the ability of epithelial cells to self-organize. Epithelia are sheets of connected cells, and compartment boundaries are formed between certain epithelial cells to create distinct tissue compartments. Compartment boundaries are specialized cell-cell interfaces that are enriched for the cytoskeletal proteins actin and myosin, leading to straight cell edges under relatively high tension that act as fences keep cells from moving between compartments. In the model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly), compartment boundaries in the early embryo are established in response to the non-uniform striped expression of the cell-surface receptor Tartan. However, it is poorly understood whether Tartan plays any similar roles during epithelial remodeling during late embryogenesis. I am investigating the hypothesis that Tartan is expressed in non-uniform patterns at other stages of development. To accomplish this, I used immunofluorescence techniques with a Tartan-specific antibody in fixed embryos to reveal Tartan protein localization in later-stage embryos. I found that Tartan protein is indeed present in late-stage embryos, and I show representative images of stage 11-14 Drosophila embryos. These results will serve as the basis for future functional studies of the role of Tartan during later stages of Drosophila development.

Keywords

drosophila; tartan; development; compartment boundaries

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