Michelle Starz-Gaiano, PhD Professor, Department of Biological Sciences University of Maryland, Baltimore County 

Animal development and wound healing require accurate cell migration. Motile cells use intrinsic genetic information to interpret external chemical signals, which guides them in their journey.  The substrates through which cells move can also influence this guidance.  Border cells within the Drosophila ovary provide an excellent model for studying how cell migration is coordinated in space and time because they are amenable to genetic analysis and high-resolution imaging in vivo.  These cells are epithelial in origin but migrate as a small group in response to steroid hormone and growth factor signaling.  We find that when hormone signaling is blocked, border cells change their polarity, cytoskeletal organization, and adhesive properties, resulting in their inability to move.  Separately, our work shows that the physical characteristics of non-motile substrate cells regulate cell migration speed.  We anticipate that the factors controlling the collective cell dynamics of border cells likely impact cell migration in many other contexts.