Rachita Bhattacharya

Academic Background: 

Under Graduation: B.Sc. Zoology (Hons.) from BHU, Varanasi 

Post Graduation: M. Sc. Zoology from BHU, Varanasi

 

 

Current work: 

 

The shape of an epithelial cell is a manifestation of its intrinsic properties and active gene expression balanced by external forces. Cell shape transitions occur during division, growth, and morphogenetic events. Despite the possibility that an epithelial cell can acquire infinite number of spatial conformations, we deal with only a limited number of functionally stable cell shapes. In some instances—physiological or developmental processes—while undergoing shape changes, a cell might reach a state of reduced stability wherein they are highly sensitive to minimal fluctuations. This can lead to unexpected phenotypes marked by pathological states such as cancer. The fact that cancer cells entails switch to a primitive cell state could as well be linked to their cell shape reversals. Such shape change-linked tumor susceptibility and the factors regulating such transitions have not been modelled in vivo so far. We hypothesize that cancer cells attempt to attain a convenient cell shape before progression and we believe that manipulating cell shape can be a better way to target cancer.