DrosophiLAP: a live in vivo study of LC3-Associated Phagocytosis

My research proposal aims to better understand LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP) by exploring it for the first time in real-time in a living organism: Drosophila.

During the first four months in the Wood lab, I have demonstrated that LAP occurs in fly macrophages, and that these are a suitable experimental system to monitor LAP in real-time while in vivo.

I am now committed to achieving four goals. - To clarify LAP's cargo specificity in vivo: is LC3 recruited to all phagosomes, regardless of the nature of engulfed particles?

To do so, I will assess LC3 recruitment to phagosomes engulfing apoptotic or necrotic debris, both generated at wounds. - To understand whether LAP has a role in macrophage priming: is it required to instruct naive macrophages on how to recognise immunogenic cues?

To do so, I will perturb LAP and assess the effects on macrophage ability to recognise immunogenic stimuli. - To discover whether adipocytes rely on LAP to fulfil their biological roles.

To understand this, I will monitor LC3 dynamics in adipocytes engulfing cell debris at wounds. - To explore the LAP/autophagy cross-talk: do the two processes compete for LC3? To clarify this, I will investigate how perturbing autophagy impacts LAP and vice versa.