The interplay of stiffness and force anisotropies drive embryo elongation
- Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, France
- Ecole Normale Supérieure, UPMC Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS, France
- Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells, Germany
Abstract
The morphogenesis of tissues, like the deformation of an object, results from the interplay between their material properties and the mechanical forces exerted on them. Whereas the importance of mechanical forces in influencing cell behaviour is widely recognized, the importance of tissue material properties, in particular stiffness, has received much less attention. Using C. elegans as a model, we examine how both aspects contribute to embryonic elongation. Measuring the opening shape of the epidermal actin cortex after laser nano-ablation, we assess the spatiotemporal changes of actomyosin-dependent force and stiffness along the antero-posterior and dorso-ventral axis. Experimental data and analytical modelling show that myosin II-dependent force anisotropy within the lateral epidermis, and stiffness anisotropy within the fiber-reinforced dorso-ventral epidermis are critical to drive embryonic elongation. Together, our results establish a quantitative link between cortical tension, material properties and morphogenesis of an entire embryo.
Article and author information
Author details
Thanh Thi Kim Vuong-Brender
Funding
European Research Council (#294744)
- Michel Labouesse
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (ANR-10-LABX-0030-INRT)
- Michel Labouesse
Université de Strasbourg (ANR-10-IDEX-0002-02)
- Michel Labouesse
Université Pierre et Marie Curie (ANR-10-LABX-0030-INRT)
- Michel Labouesse
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2017, Vuong-Brender 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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The interplay of stiffness and force anisotropies drive embryo elongation
eLife 6:e23866.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.23866
