Untangling the animal plumbing: Apical domain formation in C. elegans tubular epithelia

Abstract

The proper functioning of animal bodies requires the formation and maintenance of tubular organs that ensure the transport and distribution of vital fluids to all the cells in the body. Formation and maintenance of biological tubes is a complex developmental process that requires the coordination of different cellular process. These include the acquisition of positional information within and between individual cells, which defines where the hollow cavity of the tube will form, as well as the reorganization of cell shape and molecular components, required for tubular tissue architecture and function. The research described in this thesis focuses on several aspects of tubular tissue morphogenesis in vivo using the roundworm C. elegans as a model system. We investigate mechanisms that contribute to the acquisition of positional information and reveal that this process is robustly governed by redundant factors. We also studied in detail how the interplay between cellular membranes and the cellular scaffolding coordinate to both form and maintain a continuous and regular tubular shape. The results described in this thesis contribute to our understanding how complex tissues are shaped within the context of a living organism.