Maximilian FürthauerInstitut de biologie Valrose - CNRS / Inserm / Université Côté d'Azur
Mes recherches
The aim of my work is to understand how the architecture of cellular signalling pathways controls the exchange of biological information during animal development. I have started to address this question during my PhD in the lab of Christine and Bernard Thisse at the IGBMC in Strasbourg, where I studied the importance of the Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) and Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) pathways for the establishment of dorso-ventral patterning in the early zebrafish embryo. To acquire an understanding of the cell biological mechanisms that control developmental signaling, I then joined the lab of Marcos Gonzalez-Gaitan, initially at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden / Germany and later at the University of Geneva / Switzerland. Through studies in the nervous system of both fish and flies, I was able to identify the directional transport of Delta-containing endosomes as a novel mean to bias Notch signaling during asymmetric cell division. In 2010, I benefited from an ATIP-Avenir grant to establish my own independent research group at the Institut de Biologie Valrose in Nice. Our work aims to study how the dynamic behavior of membrane-bound cellular compartments governs the localization and activity of developmental signalling molecules.
Mon projet ATIP-Avenir
Regulating membrane curvature to control signalling during animal development
Plasma membrane invaginations govern the endocytic internalisation of signalling molecules. Conversely, membrane evaginations allow the formation of protrusions or extracellular vesicles. We have used two complementary model organisms, Drosophila and zebrafish, to study the importance of cellular membrane dynamics for the regulation of cell signalling in animal development.
A major focus of our work has been the analysis of two particular membrane-bound compartments:
1. Extracellular vesicles, that are released through the action of the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport during the development of the Drosophila wing. We have shown that these extracellular vesicles govern the secretion and transport of Hedgehog, a signalling molecule of major importance for embryonic development and cancer.
2. Motile cilia, whose beating is able to directionally propel extracellular fluids, a process that is notably required for the establishment of zebrafish left-right asymmetry. We have identified the motor protein Myosin1D as a conserved regulator of animal left-right asymmetry and shown that this factor controls cilia orientation in the zebrafish left-right organizer.