NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020

Lee, Elizabeth Erin Lailei, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the Fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Observing epithelial (skin) cells during wound healing in humans or model animals is difficult. Jellyfish are an excellent system for investigating wound healing due to their transparency and the ease of introducing drugs and dyes. Researchers can watch how cells behave as wounds heal in real time in a living animal. The epithelial cells of a jellyfish are similar enough to those in humans that this research helps answer important clinical questions such as why some wounds leave large scars, heal poorly, or do not heal at all. In this project, the Fellow will work in jellyfish to perturb a cell signaling pathway that is implicated in human wound healing, characterize healing in several tissue types, and generate new genetic tools to optically track cellular events during healing. This jellyfish system is exciting to scientists and non-scientists alike, providing a useful research and educational tool for topics including optics, development, and cell biology. Across the tree of life, epithelial cells are polarized cells with the basal end anchored to the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM plays critical roles in wound healing, creating a surface for force generation as cells move and providing key signals during the healing process. However, it is complicated to study cell-matrix interactions during wound healing in living systems, as the ECM is difficult to either visualize or access. As Clytia hemisphaerica’s ECM is uniquely accessible, this research will provide new insights into cell-matrix interactions during epithelial wound healing. Using live imaging, the fellow will interrogate the cell-matrix relationship during wound healing through the injection of small molecule inhibitors, dyes, and proteins. Furthermore, this research will determine how wounds heal in a muscle-like epithelial tissue. Finally, the fellow will generate transgenic medusae to image subcellular components including focal adhesions and actin cytoskeleton. The Fellow will be trained in transcriptomics, genomic analysis, and genetic tool development in this model system. For outreach, the Fellow will continue volunteering at the Museum of Science and Industry and participate in a workshop hosted by the Society of Developmental Biology to introduce Clytia as a lab model for research and education. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.