title: Compensatory Cell Movements Confer Robustness to Mechanical Deformation during Embryonic Development.
abstract: Embryonic development must proceed despite both internal molecular fluctuations and external perturbations. However, mechanisms that provide robustness to mechanical perturbation remain largely uncharacterized. Here, we use light-sheet microscopy, comprehensive single-cell tracking, and targeted cell ablation to study the response of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos to external compression. Compression changes the relative positions of many cells and causes severe distortions of the embryonic axes. A large-scale movement of cells then corrects this distortion. Only a few specific cells are required for these compensatory movements, and one cell, ABarppap, appears to generate force, dramatically changing as it moves to its correct local cellular environment. During these movements, we also observed "egressions", cells moving out onto the surface, and lineages that undergo both ingression and egression. In total, our work describes how the embryo responds to a major mechanical deformation that can occur during the early development in situ and puts forward a model to explain how the response is coordinated.
authors: EMBL/CRG Systems Biology Research Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, University of Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, B3001 Leuven, Belgium; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: rob.jelier@kuleuven.be.
authors: Rob
authors: R
authors: Jelier
authors: EMBL/CRG Systems Biology Research Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Angela
authors: A
authors: Kruger
authors: EMBL/CRG Systems Biology Research Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Jim
authors: J
authors: Swoger
authors: Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Advanced Light Microscopy Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Timo
authors: T
authors: Zimmermann
authors: EMBL/CRG Systems Biology Research Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: ben.lehner@crg.eu.
authors: Ben
authors: B
authors: Lehner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D002465:Cell Movement; D058948:Cell Tracking; D047108:Embryonic Development