Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026
Live Imaging of Mitosis in the Developing Mouse Embryonic Cortex
Published on: June 4, 2014
Heterogeneity in the size of the apical surface of cortical progenitors
Caroline Badouel1, Christophe Audouard1, Alice Davy1
1Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Unit (MCD), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, UPS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
Background:
The apical surface (AS) of epithelial cells is highly specialized; it is important for morphogenetic processes that are essential to shape organs and tissues and it plays a role in morphogen and growth factor signaling. Apical progenitors in the mammalian neocortex are pseudoepithelial cells whose apical surface lines the ventricle. Whether changes in their apical surface sizes are important for cortical morphogenesis and/or other aspects of neocortex development has not been thoroughly addressed.
Results:
Here we show that apical progenitors are heterogeneous with respect to their apical surface area. In Efnb1 mutants, the size of the apical surface is modified and this correlates with discrete alterations of tissue organization without impacting apical progenitors proliferation.
Conclusions:
Altogether, our data reveal heterogeneity in apical progenitors AS area in the developing neocortex and shows a role for Ephrin B1 in controlling AS size. Our study also indicates that changes in AS size do not have strong repercussion on apical progenitor behavior.
