Embryonic cell-cell adhesion: a key player in collective neural crest migration.
Cell migration is essential for morphogenesis, adult tissue remodeling, wound healing, and cancer cell migration. Cells can migrate as individuals or groups. When cells migrate in groups, cell-cell interactions are crucial in order to promote the coordinated behavior, essential for collective migration. Interestingly, recent evidence has shown that cell-cell interactions are also important for establishing and maintaining the directionality of these migratory events. We focus on neural crest cells, as they possess extraordinary migratory capabilities that allow them to migrate and colonize tissues all over the embryo. Neural crest cells undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition at the same time than perform directional collective migration. Cell-cell adhesion has been shown to be an important source of planar cell polarity and cell coordination during collective movement. We also review molecular mechanisms underlying cadherin turnover, showing how the modulation and dynamics of cell-cell adhesions are crucial in order to maintain tissue integrity and collective migration in vivo. We conclude that cell-cell adhesion during embryo development cannot be considered as simple passive resistance to force, but rather participates in signaling events that determine important cell behaviors required for cell migration.
Cell and Developmental Biology Department, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Elias H
EH
Barriga
Cell and Developmental Biology Department, University College London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: r.mayor@ucl.ac.uk.
Roberto
R
Mayor
D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D002450:Cell Communication; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D006801:Humans; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology*; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology*; D015398:Signal Transduction
D015820:Cadherins
Cadherin; Cell migration; Cell polarity; Cell–cell adhesion; Neural crest