DSSS - Building 3D apical matrix structures in the extracellular environment

Exposed body surfaces are covered by an apical extracellular matrix (aECM) that shapes and protects tissues and determines how organisms interact and cope with challenges in their environments. Nematode cuticle is a collagen-based aECM that forms multiple tissue-specific layers and three-dimensional sub-structures, raising questions about how this complex architecture arises and how different architectures confer different functions. We have discovered transient matrix components that precede and pattern the C. elegans cuticle, as well as other regulatory factors that promote matrix trafficking and assembly. Our work challenges long-standing assumptions about cuticle patterning and has identified matrix-related roles for conserved protein families relevant to human health.