MRCK-1 Drives Apical Constriction in C. elegans by Linking Developmental Patterning to Force Generation.
Curr Biol
; 26(16): 2079-89, 2016 08 22.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27451898
ABSTRACT
Apical constriction is a change in cell shape that drives key morphogenetic events including gastrulation and neural tube formation. Apical force-producing actomyosin networks drive apical constriction by contracting while connected to cell-cell junctions. The mechanisms by which developmental patterning regulates these actomyosin networks and associated junctions with spatial precision are not fully understood. Here we identify a myosin light-chain kinase MRCK-1 as a key regulator of C. elegans gastrulation that integrates spatial and developmental patterning information. We show that MRCK-1 is required for activation of contractile actomyosin dynamics and elevated cortical tension in the apical cell cortex of endoderm precursor cells. MRCK-1 is apically localized by active Cdc42 at the external, cell-cell contact-free surfaces of apically constricting cells, downstream of cell fate determination mechanisms. We establish that the junctional components α-catenin, ß-catenin, and cadherin become highly enriched at the apical junctions of apically constricting cells and that MRCK-1 and myosin activity are required in vivo for this enrichment. Taken together, our results define mechanisms that position a myosin activator to a specific cell surface where it both locally increases cortical tension and locally enriches junctional components to facilitate apical constriction. These results reveal crucial links that can tie spatial information to local force generation to drive morphogenesis.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Gene Expression Regulation
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Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
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Caenorhabditis elegans
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Cell Cycle Proteins
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GTP-Binding Proteins
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
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Gastrulation
Limits:
Animals
Language:
En
Journal:
Curr Biol
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
Year:
2016
Document type:
Article