# Understanding and Controlling the Cellular Forces that Coordinate Epithelial Tissue Morphogenesis

> **NIH NIH F31** · COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE · 2021 · $46,036

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
Mechanical forces generated by the cellular actomyosin cytoskeleton are largely responsible for shaping sheets
of epithelial cells into tissues and organs. During these morphogenetic events, the forces produced by myosin
might locally promote or resist these shape changes. Our current understanding of how the structure of a myosin
network influences tissue fluidity, the propensity of a tissue to remodel and flow, is lacking. In particular, it is not
well understood why some epithelial cell sheets remodel and flow like fluids, while other stretch and bend like
elastic solids, or how this is regulated during specific morphogenetic events. The goal of this project is to combine
nanoengineering and optogenetic techniques to measure and manipulate tissues with high spatiotemporal
precision to undercover the roles of actomyosin forces in tissue fluidity and morphogenesis. I will address these
challenges by (1) studying myosin networks and tissue fluidity during convergent extension in Drosophila
melanogaster, (2) quantitatively analyzing the forces generated by epithelial tissue sheets in vitro on
nanofabricated substrates, and (3) applying these findings to tissues grown on a nanomaterial flexible substrate
in an attempt to synthetically reconstitute and study three-dimensional tissue morphogenesis. These studies will
improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying how cells collectively self-organize and how
perturbations in these mechanisms can lead to disease states.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10233441
- **Project number:** 1F31HD105405-01
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** Christian Michael Cupo
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $46,036
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10233441

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10233441, Understanding and Controlling the Cellular Forces that Coordinate Epithelial Tissue Morphogenesis (1F31HD105405-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10233441. Licensed CC0.

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