scholarly journals Myosin-dependent remodeling of adherens junctions protects junctions from Snail-dependent disassembly

2016 ◽  
Vol 212 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mo Weng ◽  
Eric Wieschaus
Keyword(s):  
Cell Shape ◽  
Adherens Junctions ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Snail Expression ◽  
Quantitative Image ◽  
Early Expression ◽  
Temporally Correlated ◽  
Shape Changes

Although Snail is essential for disassembly of adherens junctions during epithelial–mesenchymal transitions (EMTs), loss of adherens junctions in Drosophila melanogaster gastrula is delayed until mesoderm is internalized, despite the early expression of Snail in that primordium. By combining live imaging and quantitative image analysis, we track the behavior of E-cadherin–rich junction clusters, demonstrating that in the early stages of gastrulation most subapical clusters in mesoderm not only persist, but move apically and enhance in density and total intensity. All three phenomena depend on myosin II and are temporally correlated with the pulses of actomyosin accumulation that drive initial cell shape changes during gastrulation. When contractile myosin is absent, the normal Snail expression in mesoderm, or ectopic Snail expression in ectoderm, is sufficient to drive early disassembly of junctions. In both cases, junctional disassembly can be blocked by simultaneous induction of myosin contractility. Our findings provide in vivo evidence for mechanosensitivity of cell–cell junctions and imply that myosin-mediated tension can prevent Snail-driven EMT.

scholarly journals Direct laser manipulation reveals the mechanics of cell contacts in vivo

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 1416-1421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kapil Bambardekar ◽  
Raphaël Clément ◽  
Olivier Blanc ◽  
Claire Chardès ◽  
Pierre-François Lenne
Keyword(s):  
Cell Shape ◽  
Constitutive Law ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Tissue Morphogenesis ◽  
Cell Contacts ◽  
Cell Shape Changes ◽  
Shape Changes ◽  
Cell Cell

Cell-generated forces produce a variety of tissue movements and tissue shape changes. The cytoskeletal elements that underlie these dynamics act at cell–cell and cell–ECM contacts to apply local forces on adhesive structures. In epithelia, force imbalance at cell contacts induces cell shape changes, such as apical constriction or polarized junction remodeling, driving tissue morphogenesis. The dynamics of these processes are well-characterized; however, the mechanical basis of cell shape changes is largely unknown because of a lack of mechanical measurements in vivo. We have developed an approach combining optical tweezers with light-sheet microscopy to probe the mechanical properties of epithelial cell junctions in the early Drosophila embryo. We show that optical trapping can efficiently deform cell–cell interfaces and measure tension at cell junctions, which is on the order of 100 pN. We show that tension at cell junctions equilibrates over a few seconds, a short timescale compared with the contractile events that drive morphogenetic movements. We also show that tension increases along cell interfaces during early tissue morphogenesis and becomes anisotropic as cells intercalate during germ-band extension. By performing pull-and-release experiments, we identify time-dependent properties of junctional mechanics consistent with a simple viscoelastic model. Integrating this constitutive law into a tissue-scale model, we predict quantitatively how local deformations propagate throughout the tissue.

scholarly journals Noncentrosomal microtubules and type II myosins potentiate epidermal cell adhesion and barrier formation

2012 ◽  
Vol 199 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaelyn D. Sumigray ◽  
Henry P. Foote ◽  
Terry Lechler
Keyword(s):  
Cell Adhesion ◽  
Tight Junction ◽  
Adherens Junctions ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Cell Cortex ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Cortical Microtubules

During differentiation, many cells reorganize their microtubule cytoskeleton into noncentrosomal arrays. Although these microtubules are likely organized to meet the physiological roles of their tissues, their functions in most cell types remain unexplored. In the epidermis, differentiation induces the reorganization of microtubules to cell–cell junctions in a desmosome-dependent manner. Here, we recapitulate the reorganization of microtubules in cultured epidermal cells. Using this reorganization assay, we show that cortical microtubules recruit myosin II to the cell cortex in order to engage adherens junctions, resulting in an increase in mechanical integrity of the cell sheets. Cortical microtubules and engaged adherens junctions, in turn, increase tight junction function. In vivo, disruption of microtubules or loss of myosin IIA and B resulted in loss of tight junction–mediated barrier activity. We propose that noncentrosomal microtubules act through myosin II recruitment to potentiate cell adhesion in the differentiating epidermis, thus forming a robust mechanical and chemical barrier against the external environment.

scholarly journals Group I PAKs function downstream of Rac to promote podosome invasion during myoblast fusion in vivo

2012 ◽  
Vol 199 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Duan ◽  
Peng Jin ◽  
Fengbao Luo ◽  
Guofeng Zhang ◽  
Nathan Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Shape ◽  
Myoblast Fusion ◽  
Small Gtpase ◽  
Fusion Pore ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Filament Assembly ◽  
Group I ◽  
Redundant Functions ◽  
Shape Changes

The p21-activated kinases (PAKs) play essential roles in diverse cellular processes and are required for cell proliferation, apoptosis, polarity establishment, migration, and cell shape changes. Here, we have identified a novel function for the group I PAKs in cell–cell fusion. We show that the two Drosophila group I PAKs, DPak3 and DPak1, have partially redundant functions in myoblast fusion in vivo, with DPak3 playing a major role. DPak3 is enriched at the site of fusion colocalizing with the F-actin focus within a podosome-like structure (PLS), and promotes actin filament assembly during PLS invasion. Although the small GTPase Rac is involved in DPak3 activation and recruitment to the PLS, the kinase activity of DPak3 is required for effective PLS invasion. We propose a model whereby group I PAKs act downstream of Rac to organize the actin filaments within the PLS into a dense focus, which in turn promotes PLS invasion and fusion pore initiation during myoblast fusion.

scholarly journals Apical Accumulation of Rho in the Neural Plate Is Important for Neural Plate Cell Shape Change and Neural Tube Formation

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 2289-2299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nagatoki Kinoshita ◽  
Noriaki Sasai ◽  
Kazuyo Misaki ◽  
Shigenobu Yonemura
Keyword(s):  
Neural Tube ◽  
Rho Gtpases ◽  
Cell Shape ◽  
Shape Change ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Tube Formation ◽  
Neural Plate ◽  
Cell Shape Change ◽  
Neural Tube Formation

Although Rho-GTPases are well-known regulators of cytoskeletal reorganization, their in vivo distribution and physiological functions have remained elusive. In this study, we found marked apical accumulation of Rho in developing chick embryos undergoing folding of the neural plate during neural tube formation, with similar accumulation of activated myosin II. The timing of accumulation and biochemical activation of both Rho and myosin II was coincident with the dynamics of neural tube formation. Inhibition of Rho disrupted its apical accumulation and led to defects in neural tube formation, with abnormal morphology of the neural plate. Continuous activation of Rho also altered neural tube formation. These results indicate that correct spatiotemporal regulation of Rho is essential for neural tube morphogenesis. Furthermore, we found that a key morphogenetic signaling pathway, the Wnt/PCP pathway, was implicated in the apical accumulation of Rho and regulation of cell shape in the neural plate, suggesting that this signal may be the spatiotemporal regulator of Rho in neural tube formation.

scholarly journals Myosin IIB assembly state determines its mechanosensitive dynamics

2019 ◽  
Vol 218 (3) ◽  
pp. 895-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric S. Schiffhauer ◽  
Yixin Ren ◽  
Vicente A. Iglesias ◽  
Priyanka Kothari ◽  
Pablo A. Iglesias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Modeling ◽  
Cell Shape ◽  
Cellular Response ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
3T3 Cells ◽  
Dictyostelium Myosin ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Key Players ◽  
Nih 3T3 ◽  
Shape Changes

Dynamical cell shape changes require a highly sensitive cellular system that can respond to chemical and mechanical inputs. Myosin IIs are key players in the cell’s ability to react to mechanical inputs, demonstrating an ability to accumulate in response to applied stress. Here, we show that inputs that influence the ability of myosin II to assemble into filaments impact the ability of myosin to respond to stress in a predictable manner. Using mathematical modeling for Dictyostelium myosin II, we predict that myosin II mechanoresponsiveness will be biphasic with an optimum established by the percentage of myosin II assembled into bipolar filaments. In HeLa and NIH 3T3 cells, heavy chain phosphorylation of NMIIB by PKCζ, as well as expression of NMIIA, can control the ability of NMIIB to mechanorespond by influencing its assembly state. These data demonstrate that multiple inputs to the myosin II assembly state integrate at the level of myosin II to govern the cellular response to mechanical inputs.

Second-Site Noncomplementation Identifies Genomic Regions Required for Drosophila Nonmuscle Myosin Function During Morphogenesis

Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 148 (4) ◽  
pp. 1845-1863
Author(s):  
Susan R Halsell ◽  
Daniel P Kiehart
Keyword(s):  
Cell Shape ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Nonmuscle Myosin ◽  
Genetic Screens ◽  
Nonmuscle Myosin Ii ◽  
Cell Shape Changes ◽  
Genomic Regions ◽  
Shape Changes ◽  
Strong Interactors

Abstract Drosophila is an ideal metazoan model system for analyzing the role of nonmuscle myosin-II (henceforth, myosin) during development. In Drosophila, myosin function is required for cytokinesis and morphogenesis driven by cell migration and/or cell shape changes during oogenesis, embryogenesis, larval development and pupal metamorphosis. The mechanisms that regulate myosin function and the supramolecular structures into which myosin incorporates have not been systematically characterized. The genetic screens described here identify genomic regions that uncover loci that facilitate myosin function. The nonmuscle myosin heavy chain is encoded by a single locus, zipper. Contiguous chromosomal deficiencies that represent approximately 70% of the euchromatic genome were screened for genetic interactions with two recessive lethal alleles of zipper in a second-site noncomplementation assay for the malformed phenotype. Malformation in the adult leg reflects aberrations in cell shape changes driven by myosin-based contraction during leg morphogenesis. Of the 158 deficiencies tested, 47 behaved as second-site noncomplementors of zipper. Two of the deficiencies are strong interactors, 17 are intermediate and 28 are weak. Finer genetic mapping reveals that mutations in cytoplasmic tropomyosin and viking (collagen IV) behave as second-site noncomplementors of zipper during leg morphogenesis and that zipper function requires a previously uncharacterized locus, E3.10/J3.8, for leg morphogenesis and viability.

scholarly journals Tendon-derived biomimetic surface topographies induce phenotypic maintenance of tenocytes in vitro

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aysegul Dede Eren ◽  
Aliaksei Vasilevich ◽  
E. Deniz Eren ◽  
Phanikrishna Sudarsanam ◽  
Urandelger Tuvshindorj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Cell Shape ◽  
Flat Surface ◽  
Flat Surfaces ◽  
Tissue Culture Polystyrene ◽  
Surface Topographies ◽  
And Function ◽  
Shape Changes

AbstractThe tenocyte niche contains biochemical and biophysical signals that are needed for tendon homeostasis. The tenocyte phenotype is correlated with cell shape in vivo and in vitro, and shape-modifying cues are needed for tenocyte phenotypical maintenance. Indeed, cell shape changes from elongated to spread when cultured on a flat surface, and rat tenocytes lose the expression of phenotypical markers throughout five passages. We hypothesized that tendon gene expression can be preserved by culturing cells in the native tendon shape. To this end, we reproduced the tendon topographical landscape into tissue culture polystyrene, using imprinting technology. We confirmed that the imprints forced the cells into a more elongated shape, which correlated with the level of Scleraxis expression. When we cultured the tenocytes for seven days on flat surfaces and tendon imprints, we observed a decline in tenogenic marker expression on flat but not on imprints. This research demonstrates that native tendon topography is an important factor contributing to the tenocyte phenotype. Tendon imprints therefore provide a powerful platform to explore the effect of instructive cues originating from native tendon topography on guiding cell shape, phenotype and function of tendon-related cells.

scholarly journals FSH regulates the formation of adherens junctions and ectoplasmic specialisations between rat Sertoli cells in vitro and in vivo

2006 ◽  
Vol 189 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Sluka ◽  
L O’Donnell ◽  
J R Bartles ◽  
P G Stanton
Keyword(s):  
Sertoli Cell ◽  
Sertoli Cells ◽  
Adherens Junctions ◽  
Adherens Junction ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Junctional Complex ◽  
Intermediate Filament Protein ◽  
Adult Rat

Spermatogenesis is dependent on the ability of Sertoli cells to form mature junctions that maintain a unique environment within the seminiferous epithelium. Adjacent Sertoli cells form a junctional complex that includes classical adherens junctions and testis-specific ectoplasmic specialisations (ES). The regulation of inter-Sertoli cell junctions by the two main endocrine regulators of spermatogenesis, FSH and testosterone, is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of FSH and testosterone on inter-Sertoli cell adherens junctions (as determined by immunolocalisation of cadherin, catenin and actin) and ES junctions (as determined by immunolocalisation of espin, actin and vinculin) in cultured immature Sertoli cells and GnRH-immunised adult rat testes given FSH or testosterone replacement in vivo. When hormones were absent in vitro, adherens junctions formed as discrete puncta between interdigitating, finger-like projections of Sertoli cells, but ES junctions were not present. The adherens junction puncta included actin filaments that were oriented perpendicularly to the Sertoli cell plasma membrane, but were not associated with the intermediate filament protein vimentin. When FSH was added in vitro, ES junctions formed, and adjacent adherens junction puncta fused into extensive adherens junction belts. After hormone suppression in vivo, ES junctions were absent, while FSH replacement restored ES junctions, as confirmed by electron microscopy and confocal analysis of ES-associated proteins. Testosterone alone did not affect adherens junctions or ES in vitro or in vivo. We conclude that FSH can regulate the formation of ES junctions and stimulate the organisation and orientation of extensive adherens junctions in Sertoli cells.

scholarly journals Distinct functions for Rho1 in maintaining adherens junctions and apical tension in remodeling epithelia

2009 ◽  
Vol 185 (6) ◽  
pp. 1111-1125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Warner ◽  
Gregory D. Longmore
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Cell Shape ◽  
Adherens Junctions ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Apical Cell ◽  
Clonal Analysis ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Epithelial Cadherin ◽  
Rho Effectors

Maintenance and remodeling of adherens junctions (AJs) and cell shape in epithelia are necessary for the development of functional epithelia and are commonly altered during cancer progression/metastasis. Although formation of nascent AJs has received much attention, whether shared mechanisms are responsible for the maintenance and remodeling of AJs in dynamic epithelia, particularly in vivo, is not clear. Using clonal analysis in the postmitotic Drosophila melanogaster pupal eye epithelium, we demonstrate that Rho1 is required to maintain AJ integrity independent of its role in sustaining apical cell tension. Rho1 depletion in a remodeling postmitotic epithelium disrupts AJs but only when depleted in adjacent cells. Surprisingly, neither of the Rho effectors, Rok or Dia, is necessary downstream of Rho1 to maintain AJs; instead, Rho1 maintains AJs by inhibiting Drosophila epithelial cadherin endocytosis in a Cdc42/Par6-dependent manner. In contrast, depletion of Rho1 in single cells decreases apical tension, and Rok and myosin are necessary, while Dia function also contributes, downstream of Rho1 to sustain apical cell tension.

scholarly journals Desmoplakin: an unexpected regulator of microtubule organization in the epidermis

2007 ◽  
Vol 176 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Lechler ◽  
Elaine Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Cell Shape ◽  
Epidermal Differentiation ◽  
Cell Junctions ◽  
Basal Cells ◽  
Cortical Microtubules ◽  
Microtubule Organization ◽  
Centrosomal Protein ◽  
Differentiated Cells

Despite their importance in cell shape and polarity generation, the organization of microtubules in differentiated cells and tissues remains relatively unexplored in mammals. We generated transgenic mice in which the epidermis expresses a fluorescently labeled microtubule-binding protein and show that in epidermis and in cultured keratinocytes, microtubules stereotypically reorganize as they differentiate. In basal cells, microtubules form a cytoplasmic network emanating from an apical centrosome. In suprabasal cells, microtubules concentrate at cell–cell junctions. The centrosome retains its ability to nucleate microtubules in differentiated cells, but no longer anchors them. During epidermal differentiation, ninein, which is a centrosomal protein required for microtubule anchoring (Dammermann, A., and A. Merdes. 2002. J. Cell Biol. 159:255–266; Delgehyr, N., J. Sillibourne, and M. Bornens. 2005. J. Cell Sci. 118:1565–1575; Mogensen, M.M., A. Malik, M. Piel, V. Bouckson-Castaing, and M. Bornens. 2000. J. Cell Sci. 113:3013–3023), is lost from the centrosome and is recruited to desmosomes by desmoplakin (DP). Loss of DP prevents accumulation of cortical microtubules in vivo and in vitro. Our work uncovers a differentiation-specific rearrangement of the microtubule cytoskeleton in epidermis, and defines an essential role for DP in the process.

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