Cell Migration and Fusion

The insect trachea is an intricately-branched tubular structure that delivers oxygen to the organism. Study of the development of the Drosophila trachea is an excellent model system for understanding the formation of additional complex tubular structures, such as the mammalian vascular, respiratory, and renal systems. The Drosophila dysfusion gene encodes a bHLH-PAS protein that is expressed in specialized cells at the tip of tracheal branches and controls cell migration, adhesion, and fusion. The dead end gene encodes a GTPase that regulates vesicle trafficking during tracheal fusion cell morphogenesis. Current work involves understanding how these and other genes work together to control the complex cellular events that underlie organogenesis.