title: Enabled (Xena) regulates neural plate morphogenesis, apical constriction, and cellular adhesion required for neural tube closure in Xenopus.
abstract: Regulation of cellular adhesion and cytoskeletal dynamics is essential for neurulation, though it remains unclear how these two processes are coordinated. Members of the Ena/VASP family of proteins are localized to sites of cellular adhesion and actin dynamics and lack of two family members, Mena and VASP, in mice results in failure of neural tube closure. The precise mechanism by which Ena/VASP proteins regulate this process, however, is not understood. In this report, we show that Xenopus Ena (Xena) is localized to apical adhesive junctions of neuroepithelial cells during neurulation and that Xena knockdown disrupts cell behaviors integral to neural tube closure. Changes in the shape of the neural plate as well as apical constriction within the neural plate are perturbed in Xena knockdown embryos. Additionally, we demonstrate that Xena is essential for cell-cell adhesion. These results demonstrate that Xena plays an integral role in coordinating the regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics and cellular adhesion during neurulation in Xenopus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development and Developmental Biology Center, University of Minnesota, 6-160 Jackson Hall, 321 Church St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. roff0013@umn.edu
authors.forename: Julaine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roffers-Agarwal
authors.forename: Jennifer B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Xanthos
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kragtorp
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D002450:Cell Communication; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D047108:Embryonic Development; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D009024:Morphogenesis; D054258:Neural Plate / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014981:Xenopus / Q000196:embryology*; D029867:Xenopus Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; C503715:enabled protein, Xenopus