# CELL MOTILITY AND CELL INTERACTIONS DURING NEURULATION

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 1994 · $182,907

## Abstract

The broad objective of the proposed research is to describe the embryonic
cell motility that shapes the early nervous system.  The specific goals
are to describe the types of neural cell motility that generate the
movements of the neural plate of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis,
and to learn what cell interactions pattern and control these motile
behaviors, as well as the expression of selected regional neural markers.
These goals will be achieved by using new technology that allows direct
recording of the cell motility and cell contact interactions in explanted
tissues, where the mechanical relationships between cell behaviors and
change in tissue form can be determined.  We will label Xenopus cells
with fluorescein dextran amine or DiI (vital, fluorescent dyes) and graft
them into albino hosts.  Three types of explants of the neural plate will
then be made at selected stages, each allowing expression of one, two,
or three basic morphogenetic processes that function in shaping the
nervous system.  The motility of the labeled cells will be imaged and
recorded using low-light, fluorescence microscopy, image processing and
optical memory disc recording.  Specific types of motility will be
defined in terms of their spatial and temporal patterns of expression.
Local tissue interactions controlling these events will be discovered by
microsurgically changing tissue relationships and monitoring marker
expression by specific antibodies or by in situ hybridization to localize
specific gene products.  These results will resolve the fundamental,
force-producing, motile behaviors of individual cells that generate the
forces shaping the nervous system and show how they are coordinated and
related to regionalization of the nervous system.  In resolving the
cytomechanics of neurulation, these studies will contribute to genetic
and molecular analyses and be of use in understanding the proximal,
cytomechanical causes of neural tube defects.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2199647
- **Project number:** 5R01HD025594-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** GS3YEVSS12N6
- **Principal Investigator:** RAYMOND E KELLER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $182,907
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1989-04-01 → 1996-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2199647

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2199647, CELL MOTILITY AND CELL INTERACTIONS DURING NEURULATION (5R01HD025594-05). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2199647. Licensed CC0.

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