# Physical aspects of Drosophila Gastrulation

> **NIH NIH R01** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $340,200

## Abstract

The proper function of organisms, their organs, and their tissues requires them to have specific
shape. How this shape is specified and maintained is a fundamental question in biology. In
animals, the shape is determined through the process of morphogenesis, a concerted sequence
of tissue remodeling events leading up to the final body plan. Despite a long-standing effort to
understand the physical mechanisms that underlie morphogenesis, these mechanisms still
remain largely unknown.
In the past, a large number of molecular players involved in regulating morphogenesis have
been identified and characterized in great detail. In contrast, physical mechanisms through
which the various molecular players collectively determine the tissue dynamics remain poorly
understood. Basic considerations from physics imply that in order to completely determine the
mechanism of a morphogenetic change, two pieces of information are absolutely required: (1)
the knowledge of active forces that drive tissue deformation, and (2) the knowledge of material
properties of the tissue. Using Drosophila gastrulation as a model, and by combining
biophysical, molecular, and modeling methods, we propose an approach sufficient to determine
both. In this way, we anticipate being able to for the first time completely characterize the
physical principles that underlie one of the most studied morphogenetic events. Both the
techniques and general approach developed here should be applicable to a wide variety of
tissue morphogenesis processes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9974522
- **Project number:** 5R01GM134207-02
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Konstantin Doubrovinski
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $340,200
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-08 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9974522

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9974522, Physical aspects of Drosophila Gastrulation (5R01GM134207-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9974522. Licensed CC0.

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