Sougata Roy headshot
Contact Info
Office: 2110 Bioscience Research Bldg
Lab: 2109 Bioscience Research Bldg
Office Phone: 301-405-6158
Lab Phone: 301-405-2318
Roy Lab

Sougata Roy

Associate Professor

Biography

Dr. Sougata Roy is a cell and developmental biologist who joined UMD’s Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics (CBMG) in 2014. He completed his B.S., M.S., M.Tech., and Ph.D. training at the University of Calcutta, Jadavpur University, and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India, followed by postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). His postdoctoral work helped establish a paradigm-shifting mechanism of long-range cell-cell communication in which developmental signals are transported through specialized signaling filopodia known as cytonemes. Sougata has extended this work in his own lab, helping advance the emerging field of cytoneme-mediated signaling, with a current focus on uncovering the fundamental mechanisms that govern this novel mode of communication and defining its roles in tissue patterning and morphogenesis. The lab’s research has significantly advanced our understanding of cytoneme-mediated asymmetric fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling and its role in organizing Drosophila tracheal and muscle progenitor niches. By integrating advanced high-resolution microscopy with Drosophila genetics and genome editing, cell and molecular biology, and biochemistry, the lab investigates how cytoneme-mediated signaling is regulated across biological scales and how it shapes cell behavior, cell fate, and tissue organization. His research career has been supported by several prestigious grants, including the NIH Pathway to Independence (K99/R00) Award and the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from NIGMS.

Teaching

  • Cell Biology (BSCI420/421)
  • Genetics: Cell Biology I - Structure and Function (CBMG688D)

Graduate Program Affiliations

Research Interests

Dr. Roy’s research program focuses on uncovering the cell-cell signaling mechanisms that control animal development and tissue homeostasis. Development and tissue homeostasis rely on the precise spatial and temporal coordination of cell division and differentiation to generate and maintain tissue architectures. This coordination is orchestrated by secreted signaling proteins, such as Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGFs), that travel from signal-producing cells to target cells through the extracellular space and activate intracellular signaling pathways. The levels, timing, location, and directionality of signal release, dispersion, and subsequent pathway activation must be tightly regulated to produce appropriate cellular responses and context-specific morphogenetic outcomes. Yet how cells achieve such precision in intercellular signal communication remains incompletely understood. Working at the interface of cell and developmental biology, the Roy Lab investigates how cells achieve this signaling precision through cytoneme-mediated communication. Over the past decade, the lab has established roles for cytoneme-mediated signaling across three Drosophila FGF signaling pathways in tracheal and muscle progenitor niches, while developing and adapting advanced genetic, genome-editing, and high-resolution microscopy approaches to directly visualize signaling and cellular dynamics in developing tissues. Building on these advances, the lab is currently pursuing emerging questions about how cells generate, polarize, and regulate cytonemes; how these protrusions establish selective and directional signaling contacts; and how cytoneme-mediated signaling is translated into collective cellular decisions that shape complex tissue patterns and forms. These questions offer opportunities to uncover fundamental principles of cell-cell communication across molecular, cellular, and tissue scales using multidisciplinary approaches. Through this work, the lab seeks to define broadly applicable principles of developmental signaling with implications for normal development, disease mechanisms, and regenerative biology. 

Education

  • Ph.D., Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, 2006
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Biochemistry and Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, 2006-2014

All Publications

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Latest Publications

  1. Cytoneme feedback ensures signaling specificity when multiple ligands converge on a common receptor. Akshay Patel, Molly Maranto, Hind Hitti, Sougata Roy (2025).bioRxiv 2025.08.28.672500; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.28.6725002-28587-z
  2. Cytonemes coordinate asymmetric signaling and organization in the Drosophila muscle progenitor niche. Akshay Patel, Yicong Wu, Xiaofei Han, Yijun Su, Tim Maugel, Hari Shroff, Roy S. Nature Communications 13, 1185 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28587-z
  3. GPI-anchored FGF directs cytoneme-mediated bidirectional contacts to regulate its tissue-specific dispersion. L Du, A Sohr, Y Li, S Roy. Nature Communications 13 (1), 3482 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30417-1
  4. Drosophila FGF cleavage is required for efficient intracellular sorting and intercellular dispersal. Sohr A, Du L, Wang R, Lin L, Roy S. J Cell Biol. 2019. pii: jcb.201810138. doi: 10.1083/jcb.201810138. PubMed PMID: 30808704.
  5. Feedback regulation of cytoneme-mediated transport shapes a tissue-specific FGF morphogen gradient. Du L, Sohr A, Yan G, Roy S. Elife. 2018. doi: 10.7554/eLife.38137.
  6. An Efficient Strategy for Generating Tissue-specific Binary Transcription Systems in Drosophila by Genome Editing. Du L, Zhou A, Sohr A, Roy S. J Vis Exp. 2018. doi: 10.3791/58268.
  7. Unique patterns of organization and migration of FGF-expressing cells during Drosophila morphogenesis. Lijuan Du, Amy Zhou, Akshay Patel, Mishal Rao, Kelsey Anderson, Sougata Roy. Developmental Biology 2017 Jul 1;427(1):35-48. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.05.009.
  8. Paracrine signaling mediated at cell-cell contacts. BioEssays 2015. 37(1): 25–33. Roy S, and Kornberg T.B.  (*, corresponding author; published online: 5 DEC 2014, DOI: 10.1002/bies.201400122)
  9. Roy S, Huang H, Liu S and Kornberg TB. Cytoneme-mediated contact-dependent transport of the Drosophila Decapentaplegic signaling protein. Science, 2014. 343(6173):852, 1244624 (online research article: published ahead of print on 2nd January 2014; DOI: 10.1126/science.1244624)
  10. Kornberg TB, Roy S. Communicating by touch – neurons are not alone. Trends in Cell Biology, 2014. 24(6): 370-376 (Published online on 21st February, 2014; 10.1016/j.tcb.2014.01.003).
  11. Roy S, Hsiung F, Kornberg TB. Specificity of Drosophila cytonemes for distinct signaling pathways. Science. 2011; 332(6027):354-8.