About

Adam C. Martin is the Salvador E. Luria Professor and Co-Undergraduate Officer at MIT Department of Biology. He studies molecular mechanisms that underlie tissue form and function, focusing on how cells and tissues change shape during embryonic development. His research visualizes these changes to determine how mechanical forces drive massive tissue movements in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Additionally, he investigates the regulation of tissue integrity, specifically examining processes that regulate the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT).

Research topics

• Biology
• Cell biology
• Biophysics
• Anatomy
• Physics

Selected publications

• Author Reply to Peer Reviews of An actomyosin-mediated mechanical mechanism for brain neural tube elevation

  2026-02-25

  peer-reviewSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Bitesize bundles F-actin and influences actin remodeling in syncytial Drosophila embryo development.

  PubMed · 2026-07-06

  articleSenior author

  Actin networks undergo rearrangements that influence cell shape. Actin network organization is regulated by a host of actin-binding proteins. The Drosophila synaptotagmin-like protein, bitesize (Btsz), organizes actin at epithelial cell apical junctions in a manner that depends on its interaction with the actin-binding protein, moesin. Using RNAi, we showed that Btsz functions at earlier, syncytial stages of Drosophila embryo development. Btsz is required to stabilize pseudo-cleavage furrows, preventing metaphase spindle collisions and nuclear fallout prior to cellularization. While previous studies have focused on Btsz function through moesin, we find that phosphorylated moesin localized to the nuclear envelope and was not enriched at pseudo-cleavage furrows, suggesting a moesin-independent function for Btsz in syncytial embryos. Consistent with this, mutants that affected all moesin-binding domain isoforms did not recapitulate pan-isoform Btsz depletion and we find that the C-terminal half of Btsz cooperatively binds to and bundles F-actin. We propose that synaptotagmin-like proteins directly regulate actin organization during syncytial Drosophila development.

  PublisherDOI

• An actomyosin-mediated mechanical mechanism for brain neural tube elevation

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-05-15 · 6 citations

  preprintOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Organisms mold their tissues into increasingly more complicated shapes during development using a set of deformation motifs. One set of motifs are tissue hinges and creases which are created through cell-level shape changes. Hinges and creases are often made from active, anisotropic cell constriction at the hinge, which can help drive tissue folding. This contractile hinge model is observed in a variety of developmental tissue folding contexts, like during neural tube closure (NTC) of commonly studied species. However, patterns of cells constriction are inconsistent with this model, in the mouse brain. Additionally, formation of the midline neural tube hinge and crease are insensitive to the molecular machinery needed to induce cell shape changes. Here, we test if a contractile hinge is the driving mechanism for mouse cranial NTC. Through targeted laser ablations, we infer tissue tension in the folding mouse cranial neural tube. In contrast to predications of the contractile hinge model, we find the midline hinge has relatively low and isotropic tension, the lateral neural folds have higher anisotropic tension. We also show that regional patterns of tension vary by sex. We propose a lateral tension model for mouse cranial NTC and theorize on the connection between tissue mechanics and sex in NTC defects.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• <i>Drosophila</i> Fog/Cta and T48 pathways have overlapping and distinct contributions to mesoderm invagination

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024-02-02 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract The regulation of the cytoskeleton by multiple pathways, sometimes in parallel, is a common principle of morphogenesis. A classic example of regulation by parallel pathways is Drosophila gastrulation, where the inputs from the Folded gastrulation (Fog)/Concertina (Cta) and the T48 pathways induce apical constriction and mesoderm invagination. Whether there are distinct roles for these separate pathways in regulating the complex spatial and temporal patterns of cytoskeletal activity that accompany early embryo development is still poorly understood. We investigated the roles of the Fog/Cta and T48 pathways and found that, by themselves, the Cta and T48 pathways both promote timely mesoderm invagination and apical myosin II accumulation, with Cta being required for timely cell shape change ahead of mitotic cell division. We also identified distinct functions of T48 and Cta in regulating cellularization and the uniformity of the apical myosin II network, respectively. Our results demonstrate that both redundant and distinct functions for the Fog/Cta and T48 pathways exist.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Actomyosin contraction in the follicular epithelium provides the major mechanical force for follicle rupture during <i>Drosophila</i> ovulation

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2024-09-18 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  Ovulation is critical for sexual reproduction and consists of the process of liberating fertilizable oocytes from their somatic follicle capsules, also known as follicle rupture. The mechanical force for oocyte expulsion is largely unknown in many species. Our previous work demonstrated that Drosophila ovulation, as in mammals, requires the proteolytic degradation of the posterior follicle wall and follicle rupture to release the mature oocyte from a layer of somatic follicle cells. Here, we identified actomyosin contraction in somatic follicle cells as the major mechanical force for follicle rupture. Filamentous actin (F-actin) and nonmuscle myosin II (NMII) are highly enriched in the cortex of follicle cells upon stimulation with octopamine (OA), a monoamine critical for Drosophila ovulation. Pharmacological disruption of F-actin polymerization prevented follicle rupture without interfering with the follicle wall breakdown. In addition, we demonstrated that OA induces Rho1 guanosine triphosphate (GTP)ase activation in the follicle cell cortex, which activates Ras homolog (Rho) kinase to promote actomyosin contraction and follicle rupture. All these results led us to conclude that OA signaling induces actomyosin cortex enrichment and contractility, which generates the mechanical force for follicle rupture during Drosophila ovulation. Due to the conserved nature of actomyosin contraction, this work could shed light on the mechanical force required for follicle rupture in other species including humans.

  PublisherDOI

• EGFR-dependent actomyosin patterning coordinates morphogenetic movements between tissues in Drosophila melanogaster

  Developmental Cell · 2024-10-25 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Morphogenesis: Setting the pace of embryo folding

  Current Biology · 2024-04-01

  letterOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• <i>Drosophila</i> Fog/Cta and T48 pathways have overlapping and distinct contributions to mesoderm invagination

  Molecular Biology of the Cell · 2024-03-27 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The regulation of the cytoskeleton by multiple signaling pathways, sometimes in parallel, is a common principle of morphogenesis. A classic example of regulation by parallel pathways is Drosophila gastrulation, where the inputs from the Folded gastrulation (Fog)/Concertina (Cta) and the T48 pathways induce apical constriction and mesoderm invagination. Whether there are distinct roles for these separate pathways in regulating the complex spatial and temporal patterns of cytoskeletal activity that accompany early embryo development is still poorly understood. We investigated the roles of the Fog/Cta and T48 pathways and found that, by themselves, the Cta and T48 pathways both promote timely mesoderm invagination and apical myosin II accumulation, with Cta being required for timely cell shape change ahead of mitotic cell division. We also identified distinct functions of T48 and Cta in regulating cellularization and the uniformity of the apical myosin II network, respectively. Our results demonstrate that both redundant and distinct functions for the Fog/Cta and T48 pathways exist.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Change in RhoGAP and RhoGEF availability drives transitions in cortical patterning and excitability in Drosophila

  Current Biology · 2024-04-29 · 13 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Author Reply to Peer Reviews of Bitesize bundles F-actin and influences actin remodeling in syncytial Drosophila embryo development

  2023-06-15

  peer-reviewSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R00GM089826

  NIH · $734k · 2013

• NIH Grant K99GM089826

  NIH · $86k · 2010

• Tissue morphogenesis: From signals to forces

  NIH · $3.0M · 2022–2026

• Investigating Mechanisms of Force Transmission in Tissue Morphogenesis

  NIH · $2.4M · 2013–2022

• Investigating RhoA GTPase regulation in sculpting tissues

  NIH · $1.3M · 2018–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Jörn Dunkel

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  17 shared

• Soline Chanet

  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

  13 shared

• Eric Wieschaus

  Princeton University

  12 shared

• Jonathan A. Jackson

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  12 shared

• Matthias Kaschube

  Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies

  11 shared

• Michael A. Gelbart

  University of British Columbia

  10 shared

• Frank M. Mason

  Vanderbilt University Medical Center

  9 shared

• Hannah Yevick

  Brandeis University

  8 shared

Labs

• MIT Department of BiologyPI

Education

• Ph.D., Molecular and Cell Biology

  University of California Berkeley UC Data

  2006

• B.S., Biology

  Cornell University

  2000