Rob Hunton

Understanding the role of intracellular trafficking in in vivo cell polarisation during tissue patterning using state-of-the-art imaging and gene manipulation tools

About me

After graduating from the University of Liverpool in 2019, I started worked as a research technician at the University of Sheffield. Here I carried out research on the regulation of actomyosin dynamics during Drosophila wing development as part of a broader project on interaction of cell polarity and the cytoskeleton. Through this experience I developed greater interest in developmental genetics and studying dynamic processes in vivo, which led me to pursue my current project. 

 

My Project

During animal development, cell polarisation provides directional information for coordinating tissue morphogenesis, and for orientating structures such as hairs and cilia. This directional information is determined by asymmetric localisation of polarity proteins, through their self-assemble into mutually exclusive membrane subdomains. My project investigates how this asymmetric localisation is regulated by trafficking. In particular it will look at the involvement of specific endocytic pathways and signalling events using a combination Drosophila genetics, microscopy and proteomics based approaches.