title: Tug of war--the influence of opposing physical forces on epithelial cell morphology.
abstract: The shape of a single animal cell is determined both by its internal cytoskeleton and through physical interactions with its environment. In a tissue context, this extracellular environment is made up largely of other cells and the extracellular matrix. As a result, the shape of cells residing within an epithelium will be determined both by forces actively generated within the cells themselves and by their deformation in response to forces generated elsewhere in the tissue as they propagate through cell-cell junctions. Together these complex patterns of forces combine to drive epithelial tissue morphogenesis during both development and homeostasis. Here we review the role of both active and passive cell shape changes and mechanical feedback control in tissue morphogenesis in different systems.
authors.affiliation: MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: y.mao@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Yanlan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: b.baum@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Buzz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baum
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000502:physiology*; D060833:Cellular Microenvironment / Q000502:physiology*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Actin; Adhesion; Cell shape; Epithelial morphogenesis; Forces; Myosin