Cell and Tissue Morphodynamics

The Laboratory of Cell and Tissue Morphodynamics, led by Dr. Clare Waterman, has made pioneering discoveries into the complex and dynamic mechanical interactions between organelle systems within cells that are required for directed movement.

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Clare Waterman

Images

Image of an Actin Paxillin
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Actin Paxillin

Actin cytoskeleton (red) and the focal adhesion protein, paxillin (green), in a migrating fibroblast.

Image of F-Tractin
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F-Tractin

Actin cytoskeleton in a metastatic melanoma cell undergoing bleb-based migration in non-adhesive confinement.

Image of Fibroblast red pxn-green actin blue cortactin
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Fibroblast red pxn-green actin blue cortactin

Actin cytoskeleton (green), the focal adhesion protein, paxillin (red), and the actin regulatory protein cortactin (blue) in a migrating fibroblast.

Image of Lamin Tissue
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Lamin Tissue

Lectins (pink), the nuclear envelope protein Lap2B (Green), and DNA (blue) in a melanoma tumor in mouse skin.

Featured Publications

Force fluctuations within focal adhesions mediate ECM-rigidity sensing to guide directed cell migration.

Authors: Plotnikov SV, Pasapera AM, Sabass B, Waterman CM
Cell 2012 Dec 21;151(7):1513-27
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Nanoscale architecture of integrin-based cell adhesions.

Authors: Kanchanawong P, Shtengel G, Pasapera AM, Ramko EB, Davidson MW, Hess HF, Waterman CM
Nature 2010 Nov 25;468(7323):580-4
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Mechanical integration of actin and adhesion dynamics in cell migration.

Authors: Gardel ML, Schneider IC, Aratyn-Schaus Y, Waterman CM
Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 2010 Jan 01;26:315-33
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Differential transmission of actin motion within focal adhesions.

Authors: Hu K, Ji L, Applegate KT, Danuser G, Waterman-Storer CM
Science 2007 Jan 05;315(5808):111-5
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Spatiotemporal feedback between actomyosin and focal-adhesion systems optimizes rapid cell migration.

Authors: Gupton SL, Waterman-Storer CM
Cell 2006 Jun 30;125(7):1361-74
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Meet the Team

Clare Waterman

Clare Waterman, Ph.D.

NIH Distinguished Investigator

Clare Waterman graduated from the Mount Holyoke college with a B.A. in biochemistry in 1989, received an M.S. in exercise science in 1991 from the University of Massachusetts, and received her Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995. Prior to joining the NHLBI, she spent 9 years as a professor in the Department of Cell Biology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. Dr. Waterman is a NIH Distinguished Investigator and has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including election in 2018 to the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Waterman has made fundamental advances in the understanding of role of the cytoskeleton in cell movement and morphogenesis and has authored or coauthored more than 135 papers. She currently serves on the editorial boards of Current Biology and Journal of Microscopy. Dr. Waterman is a member of the American Society for Cell Biology, Royal Microscopical Society, Biophysical Society, and is a Council Member of Gordon Research Conferences Organization.

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