Elena Scarpa

University of Cambridge | Cam · Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience

The orientation of cell division (OCD) in the plane of epithelia drives tissue morphogenesis and relaxes stresses, with errors leading to pathologies. Stress anisotropy, cell elongation and planar polarisation can all contribute to the OCD, but it is unclear how these interact in vivo. In the planar polarised Drosophila embryonic ectoderm during ax...

We propose a variational method for joint motion estimation and source identification in one-dimensional image sequences. The problem is motivated by fluorescence microscopy data of laser nanoablations of cell membranes in live Drosophila embryos, which can be conveniently—and without loss of significant information—represented in space-time plots,...

We propose a variational method for joint motion estimation and source identification in one-dimensional image sequences. The problem is motivated by fluorescence microscopy data of laser nanoablations of cell membranes in live Drosophila embryos, which can be conveniently—and without loss of significant information—represented in space-time plots,...

We propose a variational method for joint motion estimation and source identification in one-dimensional image sequences. The problem is motivated by fluorescence microscopy data of laser nanoablations of cell membranes in live Drosophila embryos, which can be conveniently-and without loss of significant information-represented in space-time plots,...

Cell shape is known to influence the plane of cell division. In vitro, mechanical constraints can also orient mitoses; however, in vivo it is not clear whether tension can orient the mitotic spindle directly, because tissue-scale forces can change cell shape. During segmentation of the Drosophila embryo, actomyosin is enriched along compartment bou...

During animal development, planar polarization of the actomyosin cytoskeleton underlies key morphogenetic events such as axis extension and boundary formation. Actomyosin is enriched along compartment boundaries during segmentation of the Drosophila embryo, forming supracellular contractile cables that keep cells segregated at boundaries. Here, we...

Epithelial folding shapes embryos and tissues during development. Here, we investigate the coupling between epithelial folding and actomyosin-enriched compartmental boundaries. The mechanistic relationship between the two is unclear, because actomyosin-enriched boundaries are not necessarily associated with folds. Also, some cases of epithelial fol...

Epithelial folding shapes embryos and tissues during development. Here, we investigate the coupling between epithelial folding and actomyosin-enriched compartmental boundaries. The mechanistic relationship between the two is unclear, because actomyosin-enriched boundaries are not necessarily associated with folds. Also, some cases of epithelial fol...

Cell–cell interactions are ubiquitous in multicellular organisms. Cells assemble into organs, transiently interact, or fuse. They use a wide range of adhesion molecules to do so, among which the calcium-dependent adhesion molecules called cadherins are the most studied. The molecular networks underpinning the formation of cadherin-based adhesion ha...

Epithelial folding is crucial to shape embryos and tissues during development. Here we investigate the coupling between epithelial folding and actomyosin-rich boundaries. The mechanistic relationship between the two is unclear, since actomyosin-rich boundaries can be either associated with folds or not, while epithelial folding has been found to be...

During embryonic development, tissues undergo major rearrangements that lead to germ layer positioning, patterning, and organ morphogenesis. Often these morphogenetic movements are accomplished by the coordinated and cooperative migration of the constituent cells, referred to as collective cell migration. The molecular and biomechanical mechanisms...

Contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL) was discovered more than 60 years ago, but has only recently been shown to regulate developmental migration and cell invasion in vivo. CIL is the process through which cells move away from each other after cell-cell contact. However, many cells do not exhibit CIL and instead remain in contact after cell collis...

Contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL) is the process through which cells move away from each other after cell-cell contact, and it contributes to malignant invasion and developmental migration. Various cell types exhibit CIL, whereas others remain in contact after collision and may form stable junctions. To investigate what determines this differe...

In neuronal cells, actin remodeling plays a well known role in neurite extension but is also deeply involved in the organization of intracellular structures, such as the Golgi apparatus. However, it is still not very clear which mechanisms may regulate actin dynamics at the different sites. In this report we show that high levels of the TTC3 protei...

The concept of contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL) describes the ability of a cell to change the direction of its movement after contact with another cell. It has been shown to be responsible for physiological and developmental processes such as wound healing, macrophage dispersion and neural crest cell migration; whereas its loss facilitates ca...

Collective cell migration in morphogenesis and cancer progression often involves the coordination of multiple cell types. How reciprocal interactions between adjacent cell populations lead to new emergent behaviours remains unknown. Here we studied the interaction between neural crest (NC) cells, a highly migratory cell population, and placodal cel...

The small GTPase RhoA plays a crucial role in the different stages of cytokinesis, including contractile ring formation, cleavage furrow ingression, and midbody abscission. Citron kinase (CIT-K), a protein required for cytokinesis and conserved from insects to mammals, is currently considered a cytokinesis-specific effector of active RhoA. In agree...