spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online 19 July 2006
doi: 10.1242/dev.02492


Development 133, 3255-3264 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006


This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental Material
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
dev.02492v1
133/16/3255    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Laplante, C.
Right arrow Articles by Nilson, L. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Laplante, C.
Right arrow Articles by Nilson, L. A.

Differential expression of the adhesion molecule Echinoid drives epithelial morphogenesis in Drosophila

Caroline Laplante and Laura A. Nilson*

Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Doctor Penfield Avenue, Montréal, QC H3A 1B1, Canada.

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: laura.nilson{at}mcgill.ca)

Accepted 14 June 2006

Epithelial morphogenesis requires cell movements and cell shape changes coordinated by modulation of the actin cytoskeleton. We identify a role for Echinoid (Ed), an immunoglobulin domain-containing cell-adhesion molecule, in the generation of a contractile actomyosin cable required for epithelial morphogenesis in both the Drosophila ovarian follicular epithelium and embryo. Analysis of ed mutant follicle cell clones indicates that the juxtaposition of wild-type and ed mutant cells is sufficient to trigger actomyosin cable formation. Moreover, in wild-type ovaries and embryos, specific epithelial domains lack detectable Ed, thus creating endogenous interfaces between cells with and without Ed; these interfaces display the same contractile characteristics as the ectopic Ed expression borders generated by ed mutant clones. In the ovary, such an interface lies between the two cell types of the dorsal appendage primordia. In the embryo, Ed is absent from the amnioserosa during dorsal closure, generating an Ed expression border with the lateral epidermis that coincides with the actomyosin cable present at this interface. In both cases, ed mutant epithelia exhibit loss of this contractile structure and subsequent defects in morphogenesis. We propose that local modulation of the cytoskeleton at Ed expression borders may represent a general mechanism for promoting epithelial morphogenesis.

Key words: Echinoid, Epithelial morphogenesis, Actomyosin cable, Follicular epithelium, Dorsal closure, Epithelial tube




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
M. Hammerschmidt and D. Wedlich
Regulated adhesion as a driving force of gastrulation movements
Development, November 15, 2008; 135(22): 3625 - 3641.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
JCBHome page
D. A. Dansereau and P. Lasko
RanBPM regulates cell shape, arrangement, and capacity of the female germline stem cell niche in Drosophila melanogaster
J. Cell Biol., September 8, 2008; 182(5): 963 - 977.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006