First published online June 22, 2006
Development 133, 1406e (2006)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Shared ground rules for epithelial morphogenesis
Epithelial morphogenesis during development and wound healing depends on
coordinated changes in cell shape. Carl-Philipp Heisenberg and co-workers now
describe a conserved mechanism that underlies the critical cell-shape changes
that occur at the epithelial margin during both epiboly in zebrafish embryos
and dorsal closure in Drosophila embryos (see
p. 2671). They show
that during epiboly (the movement of the outer epithelium over the yolk cell
surface), the localized recruitment of actin and myosin 2 within the yolk
syncytial layer drives cell-shape changes in the overlying, tightly attached
marginal epithelial cells. This recruitment requires Msn1, a zebrafish
orthologue of the Drosophila Ste20-like kinase Misshapen. Similarly,
Drosophila Misshapen, which when mutated disrupts dorsal closure, is
needed for the recruitment of actin and myosin 2, and for the subsequent
constriction of epidermal marginal cells during dorsal closure; in this case,
though, the marginal cells actively constrict rather than respond to changes
in an underlying cell layer. Thus, a largely conserved mechanism underlies
epithelial morphogenesis in both Drosophila and zebrafish.
Related articles in Development:
- Coordinated cell-shape changes control epithelial movement in zebrafish and Drosophila
- Mathias Köppen, Beatriz García Fernández, Lara Carvalho, Antonio Jacinto, and Carl-Philipp Heisenberg
Development 2006 133: 2671-2681.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
