Publications by authors named "Shruthi Balachandra"

Quantitative live imaging is a valuable tool that offers insights into cellular dynamics. However, many fundamental biological processes are incompatible with current live-imaging modalities. Drosophila oogenesis is a well-studied system that has provided molecular insights into a range of cellular and developmental processes.

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Quantitative live imaging is a valuable tool that offers insights into cellular dynamics. However, many fundamental biological processes are incompatible with current live imaging modalities. oogenesis is a well-studied system that has provided molecular insights into a range of cellular and developmental processes.

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Though cell size varies between different cells and across species, the nuclear-to-cytoplasmic (N/C) ratio is largely maintained across species and within cell types. A cell maintains a relatively constant N/C ratio by coupling DNA content, nuclear size, and cell size. We explore how cells couple cell division and growth to DNA content.

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Cell- and tissue-level processes often occur across days or weeks, but few imaging methods can capture such long timescales. Here, we describe Bellymount, a simple, noninvasive method for longitudinal imaging of the Drosophila abdomen at subcellular resolution. Bellymounted animals remain live and intact, so the same individual can be imaged serially to yield vivid time series of multiday processes.

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Article Synopsis
  • Organ renewal involves cell division, differentiation, and loss, and a new platform for live imaging of the adult midgut allows researchers to observe these processes in real-time.
  • By creating a window on a living animal, imaging sessions can last 12-16 hours, capturing dynamic cell and tissue behavior in detail.
  • The analysis reveals novel cell behaviors, such as the re-orientation of mitotic stem cells and unique mechanisms in daughter cell fate determination and enterocyte extrusion.
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Epithelial organs undergo steady-state turnover throughout adult life, with old cells being continually replaced by the progeny of stem cell divisions. To avoid hyperplasia or atrophy, organ turnover demands strict equilibration of cell production and loss. However, the mechanistic basis of this equilibrium is unknown.

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