# Polarity mechanisms driving complex morphogenesis

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2024 · $395,000

## Abstract

Project Summary
To be a productive member of a collective, a cell must precisely and dynamically partition its own contents.
Therefore, pathways that generate asymmetry in the cell, commonly referred to as polarity, are essential for
development and homeostasis. How cells create de novo polarity and harness asymmetry to diversify cellular
populations during morphogenesis remain important and open areas of study. The molecular logic that generates
and sustains highly conserved polarity domains has been thoroughly studied in animals and yeast and has led
to the creation of synthetic circuits capable of generating polarity in vitro. However, there are still significant
challenges to interrogating these pathways in situ, where technical limitations make it difficult to track individual
cells over days in developing animals as they transit through multiple identities. To overcome this hurdle, the
proposed work will interrogate polarity pathways within developing plant tissues, where observation of subcellular
dynamics can be paired to long-term tracking of full developmental decisions at single-cell resolution. Plants
harness polarity for many of the same functions as animal cells, including regulation of asymmetric cell division
and organelle positioning. Importantly, our recent progress investigating the formation and functions for cell
polarity in developing Arabidopsis leaves highlights that these polarity circuits have both commonalities with and
differences from canonical polarity pathways in animals. Therefore, our investigations will advance
understanding of polarity mechanisms broadly and introduce an experimentally tractable and independently
evolved system to test the generality of polarity models.
Specifically, our aims are to 1) determine the molecular interactions that create polarity within leaf progenitors,
2) delineate the pathways that couple polarity to organelle topography for tissue formation, and 3) identify the
control points where extrinsic signals regulate polarity pathways. We have developed imaging platforms, new
genetic tools, and analysis pipelines that will allow us to make rapid progress on our aims. Taken together, we
expect that we will identify novel means of harnessing polarity in cells, with potential future applications as tools
to exert spatial control for bioengineering purposes and human health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10890707
- **Project number:** 5R35GM150466-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Andrew D Muroyama
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $395,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2028-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10890707

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10890707, Polarity mechanisms driving complex morphogenesis (5R35GM150466-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10890707. Licensed CC0.

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