# The role of mesoderm in regulating cell polarity and adhesion during neural crest cell migration.

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2020 · $69,810

## Abstract

Abstract
Central to study of development is understanding how morphogenetic movements are regulated. This question
has special bearing for the vertebrate neural crest, a multipotent population of cells that famously migrate in
collective streams from the dorsal neural tube along conserved pathways during development. While much
current theory focuses on cell autonomous factors regulating neural crest cell state, neural crest cell (NCC)
migration is also known to require interactions and integration across different tissues. The overarching goal of
this project is to understand how NCCs integrate internal cell state with external signals from the local cellular
environment to coordinate directed migration. The proposed research will study this problem in zebrafish
where trunk NCC migration depends critically on a population of somitic mesoderm called adaxial cells. Loss of
adaxial cells results in NCC phenotypes suggestive of cell polarity and adhesion defects. Remarkably, adaxial
cells also migrate during development, and NCC migration may be related to adaxial cell migration. Despite the
importance of adaxial cells for NCC migration, the mechanisms underlying this interaction are unknown. The
propose research will test the hypothesis that NCCs require adaxial cells for regulation of cell polarity, and that
that this interaction is mediated through modifications to the extracellular matrix that occurs during adaxial cell
migration. These data will provide insight into a regulatory mechanism controlling zebrafish NCC migration, a
major morphogenetic event that occurs in every vertebrate embryo.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10067154
- **Project number:** 1F32HD103406-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Ezra Lencer
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $69,810
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10067154

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10067154, The role of mesoderm in regulating cell polarity and adhesion during neural crest cell migration. (1F32HD103406-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10067154. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*