# Collective dynamics in cell clusters

> **NIH NIH R01** · PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $337,840

## Abstract

Abstract
The proposed work will combine experiments and theory to advance quantitative understanding of animal
gametogenesis. We use Drosophila as a genetic model organism that is highly suitable for quantitative
interdisciplinary research and focus on two evolutionarily conserved aspects of reproductive biology. First, eggs
and early embryos of large volumes require efficient means for coordinating cytoplasmic processes. Studies in
multiple experimental systems indicate that such coordination in large cells relies on large-scale hydrodynamic
flows, which reach the speeds of 100s nm/s and can mediate rapid mixing and transport of cytoplasmic
components. Our Aim 1 investigates such flows at a critical point in Drosophila oogenesis, where cytoplasmic
streaming is driven by cargo-loaded kinesin motors walking on arrays of cortically anchored microtubules. We
will use computational modeling and live imaging to systematically test a recent theory according to which
cytoplasmic streaming emerges spontaneously, through hydrodynamic coupling of cortically anchored
microtubules. Second, gametogenesis in both Drosophila and humans starts with the formation of cell-cycle
arrested primordial germ cells (PCSs). Quantitative control of PGC numbers is essential for organismal fertility
and for avoiding germline tumors. Aim 2 will investigate quantitative control of PGCs numbers in Drosophila
embryos, where PGCs are formed by limited divisions of the pole cells, the first true cells to form in the embryo.
We will use live imaging to characterize statistics of pole cell lineages and test the hypothesis that control of
PGC numbers can be explained using a model in which a mitotic clock slowly drifts out of an oscillatory regime.
Given the ubiquitous nature of cytoplasmic flows and conserved mechanisms of PGC regulation, our results will
have broad impact by providing answers to fundamental questions of developmental and reproduction biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10917277
- **Project number:** 5R01GM134204-06
- **Recipient organization:** PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Stanislav Y. Shvartsman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $337,840
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10917277

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10917277, Collective dynamics in cell clusters (5R01GM134204-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10917277. Licensed CC0.

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