Description of Research Expertise

Research Interests
Tube development and epithelial matrix biology in C. elegans

Key words: C. elegans, signaling, genetics, cell biology, epithelia, matrix.


Description of Research
Our lab’s research utilizes the nematode C. elegans as a model system for studying the cell biology and developmental roles of the apical extracellular matrix (aECM). This matrix fills and shapes tube lumens, protects the animal from pathogens and other environmental insults, and forms complex structures that decorate the animal’s surface.

Apical Extracellular Matrix
  Most tubes secrete various proteoglycans, glycoproteins and lipoproteins into their developing lumens. Examples in mammals include the vascular glycocalyx, lung surfactant, and the mucus-rich linings of the gut and upper airway. There is a growing appreciation of the importance of this luminal aECM in development and disease. However, aECMs are very difficult to visualize and study in most systems because they are transparent by light microscopy and destroyed by most standard fixation approaches used for immunofluorescence.
    We’ve identified components of an early C. elegans aECM that shapes developing epithelia, including tubes of various sizes. Many of these components belong to conserved protein families (e.g. collagens, ZP proteins, lipocalins) also found in mammalian ECMs. We can visualize these components in live worms using fluorescent tags inserted into the endogenous loci. Our foundational studies have shown that this matrix is extremely complex and dynamic, and that different cell types produce and assemble different types of matrix. Some matrix proteins form complex substructures such as luminal cones, furrows, or ridges on epidermal surfaces. We are studying how the various components traffic to their correct locations and assemble to form these beautiful patterns.


Lab personnel
Helen Schmidt (postdoctoral fellow)
Nick Serra (research associate)
Chelsea Darwin (lab manager)
Sage Aviles (research specialist)
Ma Valerie Berta (research assistant)


Postions Open
Contact Meera for details