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Fenelon KD, Thomas E, Samani M, Zhu M, Tao H, Sun Y, McNeill H, Hopyan S. Transgenic force sensors and software to measure force transmission across the mammalian nuclear envelope in vivo. Biol Open 2022; 11:281166. [DOI: 10.1242/bio.059656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Nuclear mechanotransduction is a growing field with exciting implications for the regulation of gene expression and cellular function. Mechanical signals may be transduced to the nuclear interior biochemically or physically through connections between the cell surface and chromatin. To define mechanical stresses upon the nucleus in physiological settings, we generated transgenic mouse strains that harbour FRET-based tension sensors or control constructs in the outer and inner aspects of the nuclear envelope. We knocked-in a published esprin-2G sensor to measure tensions across the LINC complex and generated a new sensor that links the inner nuclear membrane to chromatin. To mitigate challenges inherent to fluorescence lifetime analysis in vivo, we developed software (FLIMvivo) that markedly improves the fitting of fluorescence decay curves. In the mouse embryo, the sensors responded to cytoskeletal relaxation and stretch applied by micro-aspiration. They reported organ-specific differences and a spatiotemporal tension gradient along the proximodistal axis of the limb bud, raising the possibility that mechanical mechanisms coregulate pattern formation. These mouse strains and software are potentially valuable tools for testing and refining mechanotransduction hypotheses in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelli D. Fenelon
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children 1 , Toronto, ON M5G 0A4 , Canada
- University of Toronto 2 Department of Molecular Genetics , , Toronto, ON M5S 1A8 , Canada
| | - Evan Thomas
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children 1 , Toronto, ON M5G 0A4 , Canada
| | - Mohammad Samani
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children 1 , Toronto, ON M5G 0A4 , Canada
| | - Min Zhu
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children 1 , Toronto, ON M5G 0A4 , Canada
- University of Toronto 3 Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering , , Toronto, ON M5S 3G8 , Canada
| | - Hirotaka Tao
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children 1 , Toronto, ON M5G 0A4 , Canada
| | - Yu Sun
- University of Toronto 3 Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering , , Toronto, ON M5S 3G8 , Canada
| | - Helen McNeill
- Washington University 4 Department of Developmental Biology , , St. Louis, MO 63110 , USA
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute 5 , Toronto, ON M5G 1X5 , Canada
| | - Sevan Hopyan
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children 1 , Toronto, ON M5G 0A4 , Canada
- University of Toronto 2 Department of Molecular Genetics , , Toronto, ON M5S 1A8 , Canada
- Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto 6 Division of Orthopaedic Surgery , , ON M5G 1X8 , Canada
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2
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Nestor-Bergmann A, Blanchard GB, Hervieux N, Fletcher AG, Étienne J, Sanson B. Adhesion-regulated junction slippage controls cell intercalation dynamics in an Apposed-Cortex Adhesion Model. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1009812. [PMID: 35089922 PMCID: PMC8887740 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Revised: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell intercalation is a key cell behaviour of morphogenesis and wound healing, where local cell neighbour exchanges can cause dramatic tissue deformations such as body axis extension. Substantial experimental work has identified the key molecular players facilitating intercalation, but there remains a lack of consensus and understanding of their physical roles. Existing biophysical models that represent cell-cell contacts with single edges cannot study cell neighbour exchange as a continuous process, where neighbouring cell cortices must uncouple. Here, we develop an Apposed-Cortex Adhesion Model (ACAM) to understand active cell intercalation behaviours in the context of a 2D epithelial tissue. The junctional actomyosin cortex of every cell is modelled as a continuous viscoelastic rope-loop, explicitly representing cortices facing each other at bicellular junctions and the adhesion molecules that couple them. The model parameters relate directly to the properties of the key subcellular players that drive dynamics, providing a multi-scale understanding of cell behaviours. We show that active cell neighbour exchanges can be driven by purely junctional mechanisms. Active contractility and cortical turnover in a single bicellular junction are sufficient to shrink and remove a junction. Next, a new, orthogonal junction extends passively. The ACAM reveals how the turnover of adhesion molecules regulates tension transmission and junction deformation rates by controlling slippage between apposed cell cortices. The model additionally predicts that rosettes, which form when a vertex becomes common to many cells, are more likely to occur in actively intercalating tissues with strong friction from adhesion molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Nestor-Bergmann
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (AN-B); (JE)
| | - Guy B. Blanchard
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Nathan Hervieux
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Alexander G. Fletcher
- School of Mathematics and Statistics and Bateson Centre, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Jocelyn Étienne
- LIPHY, CNRS, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, LIPhy, 38000 Grenoble, France
- * E-mail: (AN-B); (JE)
| | - Bénédicte Sanson
- School of Mathematics and Statistics and Bateson Centre, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
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3
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Mechanical Regulation of Limb Bud Formation. Cells 2022; 11:cells11030420. [PMID: 35159230 PMCID: PMC8834596 DOI: 10.3390/cells11030420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Early limb bud development has been of considerable interest for the study of embryological development and especially morphogenesis. The focus has long been on biochemical signalling and less on cell biomechanics and mechanobiology. However, their importance cannot be understated since tissue shape changes are ultimately controlled by active forces and bulk tissue rheological properties that in turn depend on cell-cell interactions as well as extracellular matrix composition. Moreover, the feedback between gene regulation and the biomechanical environment is still poorly understood. In recent years, novel experimental techniques and computational models have reinvigorated research on this biomechanical and mechanobiological side of embryological development. In this review, we consider three stages of early limb development, namely: outgrowth, elongation, and condensation. For each of these stages, we summarize basic biological regulation and examine the role of cellular and tissue mechanics in the morphogenetic process.
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Spatial mapping of tissue properties in vivo reveals a 3D stiffness gradient in the mouse limb bud. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:4781-4791. [PMID: 32071242 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1912656117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Numerous hypotheses invoke tissue stiffness as a key parameter that regulates morphogenesis and disease progression. However, current methods are insufficient to test hypotheses that concern physical properties deep in living tissues. Here we introduce, validate, and apply a magnetic device that generates a uniform magnetic field gradient within a space that is sufficient to accommodate an organ-stage mouse embryo under live conditions. The method allows rapid, nontoxic measurement of the three-dimensional (3D) spatial distribution of viscoelastic properties within mesenchyme and epithelia. Using the device, we identify an anteriorly biased mesodermal stiffness gradient along which cells move to shape the early limb bud. The stiffness gradient corresponds to a Wnt5a-dependent domain of fibronectin expression, raising the possibility that durotaxis underlies cell movements. Three-dimensional stiffness mapping enables the generation of hypotheses and potentially the rigorous testing of mechanisms of development and disease.
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Zhu M, Zhang K, Tao H, Hopyan S, Sun Y. Magnetic Micromanipulation for In Vivo Measurement of Stiffness Heterogeneity and Anisotropy in the Mouse Mandibular Arch. RESEARCH (WASHINGTON, D.C.) 2020; 2020:7914074. [PMID: 32666052 PMCID: PMC7327709 DOI: 10.34133/2020/7914074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2020] [Accepted: 05/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The mechanical properties of tissues are pivotal for morphogenesis and disease progression. Recent approaches have enabled measurements of the spatial distributions of viscoelastic properties among embryonic and pathological model systems and facilitated the generation of important hypotheses such as durotaxis and tissue-scale phase transition. There likely are many unexpected aspects of embryo biomechanics we have yet to discover which will change our views of mechanisms that govern development and disease. One area in the blind spot of even the most recent approaches to measuring tissue stiffness is the potentially anisotropic nature of that parameter. Here, we report a magnetic micromanipulation device that generates a uniform magnetic field gradient within a large workspace and permits measurement of the variation of tissue stiffness along three orthogonal axes. By applying the device to the organ-stage mouse embryo, we identify spatially heterogenous and directionally anisotropic stiffness within the mandibular arch. Those properties correspond to the domain of expression and the angular distribution of fibronectin and have potential implications for mechanisms that orient collective cell movements and shape tissues during development. Assessment of anisotropic properties extends the repertoire of current methods and will enable the generation and testing of hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Zhu
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada M5S 3G8
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 0A4
| | - Kaiwen Zhang
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada M5S 3G8
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 0A4
| | - Hirotaka Tao
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 0A4
| | - Sevan Hopyan
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 0A4
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Canada M5S 1A8
- Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto, Canada M5G 1X8
| | - Yu Sun
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada M5S 3G8
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada M5S 3G9
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada M5S 3G4
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6
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Finegan TM, Bergstralh DT. Division orientation: disentangling shape and mechanical forces. Cell Cycle 2019; 18:1187-1198. [PMID: 31068057 PMCID: PMC6592245 DOI: 10.1080/15384101.2019.1617006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Revised: 04/05/2019] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Oriented cell divisions are essential for the generation of cell diversity and for tissue shaping during morphogenesis. Cells in tissues are mechanically linked to their neighbors, upon which they impose, and from which they experience, physical force. Recent work in multiple systems has revealed that tissue-level physical forces can influence the orientation of cell division. A long-standing question is whether forces are communicated to the spindle orienting machinery via cell shape or directly via mechanosensing intracellular machinery. In this article, we review the current evidence from diverse model systems that show spindles are oriented by tissue-level physical forces and evaluate current models and molecular mechanisms proposed to explain how the spindle orientation machinery responds to extrinsic force.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tara M. Finegan
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
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Woronowicz KC, Gline SE, Herfat ST, Fields AJ, Schneider RA. FGF and TGFβ signaling link form and function during jaw development and evolution. Dev Biol 2018; 444 Suppl 1:S219-S236. [PMID: 29753626 PMCID: PMC6239991 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2018.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Revised: 04/20/2018] [Accepted: 05/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
How does form arise during development and change during evolution? How does form relate to function, and what enables embryonic structures to presage their later use in adults? To address these questions, we leverage the distinct functional morphology of the jaw in duck, chick, and quail. In connection with their specialized mode of feeding, duck develop a secondary cartilage at the tendon insertion of their jaw adductor muscle on the mandible. An equivalent cartilage is absent in chick and quail. We hypothesize that species-specific jaw architecture and mechanical forces promote secondary cartilage in duck through the differential regulation of FGF and TGFβ signaling. First, we perform transplants between chick and duck embryos and demonstrate that the ability of neural crest mesenchyme (NCM) to direct the species-specific insertion of muscle and the formation of secondary cartilage depends upon the amount and spatial distribution of NCM-derived connective tissues. Second, we quantify motility and build finite element models of the jaw complex in duck and quail, which reveals a link between species-specific jaw architecture and the predicted mechanical force environment. Third, we investigate the extent to which mechanical load mediates FGF and TGFβ signaling in the duck jaw adductor insertion, and discover that both pathways are mechano-responsive and required for secondary cartilage formation. Additionally, we find that FGF and TGFβ signaling can also induce secondary cartilage in the absence of mechanical force or in the adductor insertion of quail embryos. Thus, our results provide novel insights on molecular, cellular, and biomechanical mechanisms that couple musculoskeletal form and function during development and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine C Woronowicz
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S-1161, San Francisco, CA 94143-0514, USA
| | - Stephanie E Gline
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S-1161, San Francisco, CA 94143-0514, USA
| | - Safa T Herfat
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S-1161, San Francisco, CA 94143-0514, USA
| | - Aaron J Fields
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S-1161, San Francisco, CA 94143-0514, USA
| | - Richard A Schneider
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, S-1161, San Francisco, CA 94143-0514, USA.
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Tetley RJ, Mao Y. The same but different: cell intercalation as a driver of tissue deformation and fluidity. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:rstb.2017.0328. [PMID: 30249777 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability of cells to exchange neighbours, termed intercalation, is a key feature of epithelial tissues. Intercalation is predominantly associated with tissue deformations that drive morphogenesis. More recently, however, intercalation that is not associated with large-scale tissue deformations has been described both during animal development and in mature epithelial tissues. This latter form of intercalation appears to contribute to an emerging phenomenon that we refer to as tissue fluidity-the ability of cells to exchange neighbours without changing the overall dimensions of the tissue. Here, we discuss the contribution of junctional dynamics to intercalation governing both morphogenesis and tissue fluidity. In particular, we focus on the relative roles of junctional contractility and cell-cell adhesion as the driving forces behind intercalation. These two contributors to junctional mechanics can be used to simulate cellular intercalation in mechanical computational models, to test how junctional cell behaviours might regulate tissue fluidity and contribute to the maintenance of tissue integrity and the onset of disease.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Mechanics of development'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J Tetley
- Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Yanlan Mao
- Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK .,Institute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, London, UK.,College of Information and Control, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210044, People's Republic of China
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9
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Sanchez-Corrales YE, Blanchard GB, Röper K. Radially patterned cell behaviours during tube budding from an epithelium. eLife 2018; 7:35717. [PMID: 30015616 PMCID: PMC6089598 DOI: 10.7554/elife.35717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The budding of tubular organs from flat epithelial sheets is a vital morphogenetic process. Cell behaviours that drive such processes are only starting to be unraveled. Using live-imaging and novel morphometric methods, we show that in addition to apical constriction, radially oriented directional intercalation of cells plays a major contribution to early stages of invagination of the salivary gland tube in the Drosophila embryo. Extending analyses in 3D, we find that near the pit of invagination, isotropic apical constriction leads to strong cell-wedging. Further from the pit cells interleave circumferentially, suggesting apically driven behaviours. Supporting this, junctional myosin is enriched in, and neighbour exchanges are biased towards the circumferential orientation. In a mutant failing pit specification, neither are biased due to an inactive pit. Thus, tube budding involves radially patterned pools of apical myosin, medial as well as junctional, and radially patterned 3D-cell behaviours, with a close mechanical interplay between invagination and intercalation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Guy B Blanchard
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Katja Röper
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Pasiliao CC, Hopyan S. Cell ingression: Relevance to limb development and for adaptive evolution. Genesis 2017; 56. [PMID: 29280270 DOI: 10.1002/dvg.23086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2017] [Revised: 11/16/2017] [Accepted: 12/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Cell ingression is an out-of-plane type of cell intercalation that is essential for the formation of multiple embryonic structures including the limbs. In particular, cell ingression underlies epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of lateral plate cells to initiate limb bud growth, delamination of neural crest cells to generate peripheral nerve sheaths, and emigration of myoblasts from somites to assemble muscles. Individual cells that ingress undergo apical constriction to generate bottle shaped cells, diminish adhesion to their epithelial cell neighbors, and generate protrusive blebs that likely facilitate their ingression into a subepithelial tissue layer. How signaling pathways regulate the progression of delamination is important for understanding numerous developmental events. In this review, we focus on cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive cell ingression and draw comparisons between different morphogenetic contexts in various model organisms. We speculate that cell behaviors that facilitated tissue invagination among diploblasts subsequently drove individual cell ingression and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Future insights that link signalling pathways to biophysical mechanisms will likely advance our comprehension of this phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clarissa C Pasiliao
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A4, Canada.,Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, M5S 1A8, Canada
| | - Sevan Hopyan
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A4, Canada.,Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, M5S 1A8, Canada.,Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children and University of, Toronto, M5G 1X8, Canada
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