# Symmetry Breaking in Cell Assemblies

> **NIH NIH F32** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $74,284

## Abstract

Summary
Tissue wide patterning is integral to robust development in multicellular organisms, requiring
individual cells to generate polarity axes and coordinate this information in space and time. In
order to establish cell polarity individual cells must first `break symmetry'. Imaging symmetry
breaking in vivo suggests this is not a stochastic process, instead, symmetry breaking events are
coordinated with in tissues and interconnected across the embryo. Using the C. elegans embryo,
I will take a systems level approach to identify patterns of symmetry breaking events in the embryo
that underlie synchronized, reproducible cell polarization needed for proper development. The
Feldman lab has developed the C. elegans intestine as a tractable model to define cell- and
tissue-level symmetry breaking events in the in vivo context of the developing embryo. The first
cellular-level asymmetry we observe is the formation of `local polarity complexes' (LPCs). These
macromolecular assemblies subsequently move coordinately to seed and establish the future
apical surface, defining tissue-level asymmetry. In the proposed experiments, I will probe
molecular assemblies to identify conserved mechanisms of polarity complex formation (aims 1 &
2) and ask if mechanical inputs are upstream of directed symmetry breaking in epithelia in vivo
(aim 3). The overarching goal of this proposal is to identify where asymmetric information comes
from to inform polarity programs in developing epithelia. Together these aims will inform core
mechanisms of cell polarity establishment that are essential for organismal development and are
key to maintaining healthy epithelia and preventing disruption of polarity programs that underlie
disease states such as congenital malformations and tumorigenesis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10900342
- **Project number:** 1F32GM154397-01
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Caitlin C Devitt
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $74,284
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-05-16 → 2026-05-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10900342

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10900342, Symmetry Breaking in Cell Assemblies (1F32GM154397-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10900342. Licensed CC0.

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