Chaos begets order: asynchronous cell contractions drive epithelial morphogenesis.
Apical cell contraction triggers tissue folding and invagination in epithelia. During Drosophila gastrulation, ventral furrow formation was thought to be driven by smooth, purse-string-like constriction of an acto-myosin belt underlying adherens junctions. Now Martin et al. report in Nature that ventral furrow formation is triggered by asynchronous pulsed contractions of the apical acto-myosin cortex in individual cells.
Paluch
Ewa
E
Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany.
Heisenberg
Carl-Philipp
CP
D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology; D004848:Epithelium / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D009024:Morphogenesis; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; C497753:Twi protein, Drosophila; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; C000604451:sna protein, Drosophila