Tara Finegan
How do epithelial tissues acquire and change their shape?
Abstract:
Epithelial tissues are ubiquitous in animal bodies and share a common organization as confluent, polarized cell sheets, yet they exhibit remarkable architectural diversity across tissues, developmental stages, and physiological states. While genetic regulation of epithelial identity is well studied, the physical principles that govern how epithelial architecture emerges and is maintained - particularly along the apical–basal (depth) axis - remain poorly defined. A central goal of my research program is to establish a quantitative, mechanistic framework for understanding how genetic and mechanical factors together determine epithelial form.
We have developed a theoretical model that describes epithelial architecture as an emergent property of a small number of biophysical parameters, including cell density, cell–cell adhesion, and cell–substrate interactions. This framework explicitly captures how variations in these parameters can drive transitions between distinct epithelial architectures in the apical–basal dimension. The model generates testable predictions about how changes in mechanical constraints or adhesion balance reshape epithelial organization.
These predictions are evaluated using complementary experimental systems spanning scales and complexity. Mammalian epithelial cell culture provides a experimentally-amenable model for multiplex imaging and large-scale quantitative analysis of cell shape and tissue geometry. In parallel, the Drosophila ovary offers an in vivo context in which genetic and mechanical parameters can be systematically manipulated and directly compared to model predictions. Together, this integrated theoretical–experimental approach reveals general principles governing epithelial architecture and provides insight into how deviations from these principles drive tissue dysfunction and disease.
Speaker: Tara Finegan, University of Missouri
Dr. Tara Finegan is an Assistant Research Professor in the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri and Director of the Advanced Light Microscopy Core. Her research investigates how epithelial tissues build, remodel, and maintain architecture by integrating genetics, quantitative imaging, and theoretical modeling. Using both Drosophila and mammalian epithelial systems in combination with theory, her work has revealed how local adhesion specializations and tissue-scale mechanical forces coordinate cell behaviors such as cell neighbor exchange and division orientation. Dr. Finegan completed her undergraduate, Master’s, and PhD training at the University of Cambridge (UK), followed by postdoctoral research in the Departments of Biology and Physics at the University of Rochester and Syracuse University, respectively. She has been a faculty member in the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri since 2024.
Seminars start at 4:00 pm, and refreshments will be served at 3:45 pm. All seminars are held in the 2136 Physical Sciences Complex (#415) unless otherwise noted.