Abstract: The extracellular matrix (ECM) is often assumed to be a static, long-lived structure. However, we hypothesise that during embryonic development, a stable, covalently crosslinked ECM network is incompatible with the rapid remodelling required to alter tissue morphology. We are exploiting Drosophila development to understand the mechanisms controlling ECM plasticity and alterations in architecture. This has revealed a surprisingly dynamic ECM network controlled not only by active cellular remodelling, but also by ECM self-assembly and homeostatic turnover.

Biography: Professor Brian Stramer completed his undergraduate degree in Molecular Genetics at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, and his PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology at Tufts University in Boston, MA. He then moved to the UK to work in the laboratory of Paul Martin as a US/UK Royal Society Fellow at the University of Bristol, before becoming a lecturer and a group leader at King’s College London in 2008.