Marshall, Abigail R;
Galea, Gabriel L;
Copp, Andrew J;
Greene, Nicholas DE;
(2023)
The surface ectoderm exhibits spatially heterogenous tension that correlates with YAP localisation during spinal neural tube closure in mouse embryos.
Cells & Development
, 174
, Article 203840. 10.1016/j.cdev.2023.203840.
Preview |
Text
1-s2.0-S2667290123000165-main.pdf - Published Version Download (5MB) | Preview |
Abstract
The single cell layer of surface ectoderm (SE) which overlies the closing neural tube (NT) plays a crucial biomechanical role during mammalian NT closure (NTC), challenging previous assumptions that it is only passive to the force-generating neuroepithelium (NE). Failure of NTC leads to congenital malformations known as NT defects (NTDs), including spina bifida (SB) and anencephaly in the spine and brain respectively. In several mouse NTD models, SB is caused by misexpression of SE-specific genes and is associated with disrupted SE mechanics, including loss of rostrocaudal cell elongation believed to be important for successful closure. In this study, we asked how SE mechanics affect NT morphology, and whether the characteristic rostrocaudal cell elongation at the progressing closure site is a response to tension anisotropy in the SE. We show that blocking SE-specific E-cadherin in ex utero mouse embryo culture influences NT morphology, as well as the F-actin cable. Cell border ablation shows that cell shape is not due to tension anisotropy, but that there are regional differences in SE tension. We also find that YAP nuclear translocation reflects regional tension heterogeneity, and that its expression is sensitive to pharmacological reduction of tension. In conclusion, our results confirm that the SE is a biomechanically important tissue for spinal NT morphogenesis and suggest a possible role of spatial regulation of cellular tension which could regulate downstream gene expression via mechanically-sensitive YAP activity.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The surface ectoderm exhibits spatially heterogenous tension that correlates with YAP localisation during spinal neural tube closure in mouse embryos |
| Location: | Netherlands |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cdev.2023.203840 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdev.2023.203840 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Crown Copyright © 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Biomechanics, Laser ablation, Neural tube closure, Surface ectoderm |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Developmental Biology and Cancer Dept |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10169259 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
