Title: Modeling and manipulating EGFR-mediated cell communication in development
Speaker: Stanislav Shvartsman, Princeton University
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2003, 1:00 pm
Location: Hill Center, Room 260, Rutgers University, Busch Campus, Piscataway, NJ
Abstract:
The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) signaling network is an evolutionary conserved regulator of epithelial tissues. Alterations in EGFR signaling lead to severe developmental defects and pathologies, including a large number of human cancers. At this time, there is a fairly extensive understanding of the mechanisms by which EGFR controls the physiology at the level of a single cell. The current challenge is to understand how this network regulates tissue development and maintenance. For this, it is necessary to integrate the information generated by genetic, biochemical, and cellular studies into predictive quantitative models. I will describe our recent work on computational analysis of EGFR-mediated pattern formation in epithelial layers. We are using the Drosophila egg development as an experimental system and focus on developmental events where the integrated modeling/experimental approach is both necessary and feasible.
Seminar sponsored by DIMACS/BIOMAPS Seminar Series on Quantitative Biology and Epidemiology.