In development, to form a tissue/organ properly requires both the specification of distinct cell types and the coordination of cell movements in populations.  Failures of these events can lead to developmental defects. Exploring the fundamental cellular processes that underlie key developmental events will help facilitate our understanding of numerous human pathologies including congenital disorders and cancer.

This module will provide a strong introduction to the principles of morphogenesis, how an organism takes its shape at cellular and tissue/organ scales during development. Using key morphogenetic processes as examples, students will learn how cellular mechanisms orchestrate cell behaviour when cells are in a collective group rather than in isolation (i.e. collective cell behaviour). Through integrating concepts from cell biology within the frameworks of development and genetics, students will discover the importance of bridging biological scales to better understand the organisation of biological systems.

Lectures will focus on the fundamental morphogenetic processes in developmental biology using a variety of model organisms, including worms, flies, fish, frogs, chicks and mice.  Lectures will also cover tissue mechanics and fluorescent protein-based imaging approaches in combination with sophisticated genetic manipulations in vivo.

 Indicative lecture and coursework topics

The following is a typical example of topics (although precise contents in any given year of study may change with module updates and development):

Asymmetric cell division
	Chemotaxis and collective cell migration
	Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition
	Epithelial integrity
	Cell polarity
	Cell adhesion
	Cell death
	Tissue mechanics
Students should note that this module does not specifically cover broad-based cell biology. For detailed coverage in this area, students are recommended to take CELL0009.

Aims of Module:

This module will provide a comprehensive introduction to the principles of morphogenetic processes at cellular and tissue/organ scales during development. In addition, this module will guide the students to critically think about the fundamental questions in developmental cell biology, to raise hypotheses and to design to test them in the model systems they have learnt.

Module Outcomes:

Upon completion of this module, the students will be able to:

1. Discuss the cellular mechanisms that underlie a variety of morphogenetic processes in different cell and developmental contexts

2. Understand how to test hypotheses based on experimental designs in a variety of model organisms

3. Understand the concepts of biological scales (molecular, cellular, tissue and organismal) and how to bridge them in the context of development.

 

Module Organizers Dr Mie Wong and Dr Masa Tada.