title: Evolutionary conservation of early mesoderm specification by mechanotransduction in Bilateria.
abstract: The modulation of developmental biochemical pathways by mechanical cues is an emerging feature of animal development, but its evolutionary origins have not been explored. Here we show that a common mechanosensitive pathway involving β-catenin specifies early mesodermal identity at gastrulation in zebrafish and Drosophila. Mechanical strains developed by zebrafish epiboly and Drosophila mesoderm invagination trigger the phosphorylation of β-catenin-tyrosine-667. This leads to the release of β-catenin into the cytoplasm and nucleus, where it triggers and maintains, respectively, the expression of zebrafish brachyury orthologue notail and of Drosophila Twist, both crucial transcription factors for early mesoderm identity. The role of the β-catenin mechanosensitive pathway in mesoderm identity has been conserved over the large evolutionary distance separating zebrafish and Drosophila. This suggests mesoderm mechanical induction dating back to at least the last bilaterian common ancestor more than 570 million years ago, the period during which mesoderm is thought to have emerged.
authors.affiliation: 1] Mechanics and Genetics of Embryonic Development Group, PSL Research University, CNRS, UMR168, Inserm, Institut Curie, 11 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France [2] [3].
authors.forename: Thibaut
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brunet
authors.forename: Adrien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bouclet
authors.forename: Padra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.forename: Démosthène
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mitrossilis
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Driquez
authors.forename: Anne-Christine
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Brunet
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: Fanny
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Serman
authors.forename: Gaëlle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Béalle
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ménager
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dumas-Bouchiat
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Givord
authors.forename: Constantin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yanicostas
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Le-Roy
authors.forename: Nora M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Dempsey
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plessis
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Farge
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051186:Armadillo Domain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000502:physiology; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005326:Fetal Proteins; D008297:Male; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D015027:Zebrafish; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism*; D000098908:Brachyury Protein
chemical_list: D051186:Armadillo Domain Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005326:Fetal Proteins; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin; D000098908:Brachyury Protein; C495305:ARM protein, Drosophila; C497753:Twi protein, Drosophila; C495269:ctnnb1 protein, zebrafish