Apical constriction: a cell shape change that can drive morphogenesis.
Biologists have long recognized that dramatic bending of a cell sheet may be driven by even modest shrinking of the apical sides of cells. Cell shape changes and tissue movements like these are at the core of many of the morphogenetic movements that shape animal form during development, driving processes such as gastrulation, tube formation, and neurulation. The mechanisms of such cell shape changes must integrate developmental patterning information in order to spatially and temporally control force production-issues that touch on fundamental aspects of both cell and developmental biology and on birth defects research. How does developmental patterning regulate force-producing mechanisms, and what roles do such mechanisms play in development? Work on apical constriction from multiple systems including Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, sea urchin, Xenopus, chick, and mouse has begun to illuminate these issues. Here, we review this effort to explore the diversity of mechanisms of apical constriction, the diversity of roles that apical constriction plays in development, and the common themes that emerge from comparing systems.
Sawyer
Jacob M
JM
Biology Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Harrell
Jessica R
JR
Shemer
Gidi
G
Sullivan-Brown
Jessica
J
Roh-Johnson
Minna
M
Goldstein
Bob
B
D000818:Animals; D016764:Cell Polarity; D048430:Cell Shape; D009024:Morphogenesis