NIH R01 · 2025
Substrate-mediated collective cell migration incalvarial bone expansion and disease.
Summary Congenital defects affecting the formation of the skull roof, such as craniosynostosis or persistent fontanelles, occur as a result of abnormal calvarial growth and differentiation. We lack a basic understanding of how calvarial bones grow, which in turn impacts the position, patterning, and fusion of sutures, and thus etiology of these disorders. The Harris and Atit laboratories have uncovered an unexpected and intriguing role for cellular sensing of graded fibronectin matrix in preferentially regulating apical expansion of calvarial progenitors during mouse development. When cellular lamellipodia are inhibited, mouse calvarial osteoblasts fail to appropriately migrate resembling…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.