The people behind the papers – Dhaval Gandhi and Jessica Treisman

Specialised adhesion proteins, such as the Drosophila Sidekick (Sdk), are crucial components of the tricellular adherens junctions (tAJs) that hold three cells together, but how they become localised there remains an open question. In a new study, Treisman and colleagues identify two Sdk extracellular domains that are crucial for its localisation to tAJs, as well as a previously unreported interaction with the protein kinase Mushroom bodies tiny (Mbt) that regulates Sdk localisation in multiple developing tissues in Drosophila. To learn more about this work and the people behind it, we spoke to first author Dhaval Gandhi and corresponding author Jessica Treisman, Professor at the Department of Cell Biology in NYU Grossman School of Medicine, USA.