Acute control of intracellular trafficking through Rab GTPases in living tissues in Drosophila (A02)

• Subject Area: Cell Biology
• Term: from 2016 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 278001972

Rab GTPases are molecular switches that regulate membrane trafficking in all cells. The goal of project A02 is to identify and characterize the roles of Rab GTPase-mediated membrane trafficking in developing tissues. Building on our previous results, we aim to systematically elucidate, which Rab proteins govern two important processes in Drosophila development: Synapse formation during brain development and establishment of Wnt morphogen gradients during tissue patterning. Recent work indicates that both processes rely on cell-to-cell signaling through filopodia. This project will result in the comprehensive characterization of a class of membrane trafficking switches in a developing organism.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 186: Molecular Switches: Spatio-temporal Control of Cellular Signal Transmission
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Michael Boutros; Professor Dr. Peter Robin Hiesinger