Virginie Lecaudey

Biography

Professor Virginie Lecaudey Institute of Cellular Biology and Neuroscience – The European Neuroscience Institute in Freiburg

Research Interest

During development, the formation of organs often involves the migration of cells in groups. Our lab uses the Zebrafish Danio rerio as a model organism to uncover the mechanisms coordinating collective cell migration, morphogenesis and differentiation during organ formation. To this aim, we use the lateral line as a model system. The lateral line is a sensory system present in aquatic Vertebrates; it is comprised of mechanosensory organs called neuromasts. These organs consist of mechano-sensory hair cells surrounded by support cells and are similar to our auditory sensory organs. The lateral line allows fishes to sense water vibrations and therefore to pick up certain behaviour such as school swimming, predator avoidance and prey detection. The mechanosensory organs assemble and start to differentiate within a migrating group of about 100 cells, the lateral line primordium (llp). During the second day of development, the primordium migrates laterally on both sides of the embryo from behind the ear to the tip of the tail. As they migrate, cells at the back of the primordium assemble into rosette-like structures that are then deposited and differentiate into neuromasts.