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Imaging Integrin Tension and Cellular Force at Submicron Resolution with an Integrative Tension Sensor
Published on: April 25, 2019
Integration of contractile forces during tissue invagination.
Adam C Martin1, Michael Gelbart, Rodrigo Fernandez-Gonzalez
1Department of Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
The Journal of Cell Biology
|March 3, 2010
Summary
Cellular actomyosin contractions generate tissue tension during epithelial morphogenesis. This tension, regulated by Twist, requires a supracellular meshwork for force transmission, crucial for embryonic development.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- The actomyosin cytoskeleton drives cellular contractions, essential for tissue-level force generation in epithelial morphogenesis.
- During Drosophila mesoderm invagination, pulsed contractions and cell shape stabilization mediate apical constriction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the integration of contractile forces across tissues during epithelial morphogenesis.
- To understand the mechanisms underlying anisotropic epithelial tension and its feedback on cell shape.
Main Methods:
- Experimental reduction of adherens junction (AJ) levels.
- Ablation of actomyosin meshworks.
- Analysis of tissue-wide epithelial tears and cell shape changes.
- Investigating the role of the transcription factor Twist.
Main Results:
- Reducing AJ levels or ablating actomyosin meshworks induced tissue-wide epithelial tears, releasing predominantly anterior-posterior oriented tension.
- Epithelial tears led to isotropic cell constriction, indicating apical constriction generates anisotropic epithelial tension.
- Epithelial tension was dependent on the transcription factor Twist, which stabilizes apical myosin II.
Conclusions:
- A supracellular actomyosin meshwork, stabilized by Twist, is required for transmitting cellular forces to the tissue level during morphogenesis.
- Pulsed actomyosin contractions rely on this tensile meshwork for effective force transmission.
- Anisotropic epithelial tension generated by apical constriction provides feedback to control cell shape.
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