Interplay of cell dynamics and epithelial tension during morphogenesis of the Drosophila pupal wing
Abstract
How tissue shape emerges from the collective mechanical properties and behavior of individual cells is not understood. We combine experiment and theory to study this problem in the developing wing epithelium of Drosophila. At pupal stages, the wing-hinge contraction contributes to anisotropic tissue flows that reshape the wing blade. Here, we quantitatively account for this wing-blade shape change on the basis of cell divisions, cell rearrangements and cell shape changes. We show that cells both generate and respond to epithelial stresses during this process, and that the nature of this interplay specifies the pattern of junctional network remodeling that changes wing shape. We show that patterned constrains exerted on the tissue by the extracellular matrix are key to force the tissue into the right shape. We present a continuum mechanical model that quantitatively describes the relationship between epithelial stresses and cell dynamics, and how their interplay reshapes the wing.
Article and author information
Author details
Reviewing Editor
- Helen McNeill, The Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Canada
Version history
- Received: February 24, 2015
- Accepted: June 18, 2015
- Accepted Manuscript published: June 23, 2015 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: September 22, 2015 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2015, Etournay et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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