Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 6, 2026

An Ex vivo Culture System to Study Thyroid Development
08:33

An Ex vivo Culture System to Study Thyroid Development

Published on: June 6, 2014

Glycolytic suppression of cell adhesion promotes thyroid morphogenesis in response to nutrition

Asako Shindo1,2, Shiho Nishiguchi3, Ayaka Fujiwara4

  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Osaka, Toyonaka, Japan. shindo.asako.sci@osaka-u.ac.jp.

EMBO Reports
|July 20, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Nutritional status impacts thyroid development by altering cell adhesion. Reduced food intake increases cell adhesion, while higher intake and glycolysis decrease it, influencing organ morphogenesis.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Cellular Biology
  • Metabolism

Background:

  • Organ morphogenesis depends on collective cell behaviors, but environmental factors like nutrition are poorly understood.
  • Intrinsic developmental programs are known, but extrinsic influences on cell behavior require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how nutritional availability modulates cellular behaviors during thyroid morphogenesis in Xenopus tadpoles.
  • To understand the link between metabolism, cell adhesion, and organ development.

Main Methods:

  • RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to analyze gene expression in fed vs. unfed tadpoles.
  • Immunostaining for E-cadherin and functional inhibition assays.
  • Assessment of glycolytic activity and its effect on cell adhesion and polarity.

Main Results:

  • Nutritional status significantly alters gene expression, particularly for cell adhesion genes.
  • E-cadherin expression is inversely correlated with nutritional availability and enhanced by glycolysis.
  • Suppression of cell adhesion and increased glycolysis promote multi-luminal thyroid structures.

Conclusions:

  • Nutritional status regulates thyroid morphogenesis by modulating cell adhesion through metabolic pathways.
  • Glycolysis reduces E-cadherin, impacting cell-cell interactions and thyroid follicle formation.
  • This study reveals a mechanism connecting nutrition, metabolism, and collective cell behaviors in organ development.

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