1. Cancer Biology
  2. Cell Biology

N-cadherin directs the collective Schwann cell migration required for nerve regeneration through Slit2/3 mediated contact inhibition of locomotion

  1. Julian J A Hoving
  2. Elizabeth Harford-Wright
  3. Patrick Wingfield-Digby
  4. Anne-Laure Cattin
  5. Mariana Campana
  6. Alex Power
  7. Toby Morgan
  8. Erica Torchiaro
  9. Victor Quereda
  10. Alison C Lloyd  Is a corresponding author
  1. University College London, United Kingdom
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.88872
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  1. Julian J A Hoving
  2. Elizabeth Harford-Wright
  3. Patrick Wingfield-Digby
  4. Anne-Laure Cattin
  5. Mariana Campana
  6. Alex Power
  7. Toby Morgan
  8. Erica Torchiaro
  9. Victor Quereda
  10. Alison C Lloyd
(2024)
N-cadherin directs the collective Schwann cell migration required for nerve regeneration through Slit2/3 mediated contact inhibition of locomotion
eLife 13:e88872.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.88872
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Abstract

Collective cell migration is fundamental for the development of organisms and in the adult, for tissue regeneration and in pathological conditions such as cancer. Migration as a coherent group requires the maintenance of cell-cell interactions, while contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL), a local repulsive force, can propel the group forward. Here we show that the cell-cell interaction molecule, N-cadherin, regulates both adhesion and repulsion processes during rat Schwann cell (SC) collective migration, which is required for peripheral nerve regeneration. However, distinct from its role in cell-cell adhesion, the repulsion process is independent of N-cadherin trans-homodimerisation and the associated adherens junction complex. Rather, the extracellular domain of N-cadherin is required to present the repulsive Slit2/Slit3 signal at the cell-surface. Inhibiting Slit2/Slit3 signalling inhibits CIL and subsequently collective Schwann cell migration, resulting in adherent, nonmigratory cell clusters. Moreover, analysis of ex vivo explants from mice following sciatic nerve injury showed that inhibition of Slit2 decreased Schwann cell collective migration and increased clustering of Schwann cells within the nerve bridge. These findings provide insight into how opposing signals can mediate collective cell migration and how CIL pathways are promising targets for inhibiting pathological cell migration.

Data availability

All data are included in the manuscript, Figures and Figure supplements. Source data files have been provided for all Western Blots.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Julian J A Hoving

    Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. Elizabeth Harford-Wright

    Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Patrick Wingfield-Digby

    Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Anne-Laure Cattin

    Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. Mariana Campana

    Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  6. Alex Power

    Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  7. Toby Morgan

    Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  8. Erica Torchiaro

    Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  9. Victor Quereda

    Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  10. Alison C Lloyd

    Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    For correspondence
    alison.lloyd@ucl.ac.uk
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-7712-1773

Funding

Cancer Research UK (C378/A4308)

  • Alison C Lloyd

Medical Research Council (Studentship)

  • Julian J A Hoving

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Derek A Applewhite, Reed College, United States

Ethics

Animal experimentation: This study was performed in accordance with UK Home office legislation and in close consultation with animal care staff at the University College London (UCL), Biological Services Central Unit. All animal work was carried out under the UCL establishment licence (X7069FDD2) and all procedures performed were approved by the UK Home office in project licence (PP9833892).

Version history

  1. Preprint posted: February 13, 2019 (view preprint)
  2. Received: April 25, 2023
  3. Accepted: March 27, 2024
  4. Accepted Manuscript published: April 9, 2024 (version 1)
  5. Version of Record published: April 26, 2024 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2024, Hoving 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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  1. Julian J A Hoving
  2. Elizabeth Harford-Wright
  3. Patrick Wingfield-Digby
  4. Anne-Laure Cattin
  5. Mariana Campana
  6. Alex Power
  7. Toby Morgan
  8. Erica Torchiaro
  9. Victor Quereda
  10. Alison C Lloyd
(2024)
N-cadherin directs the collective Schwann cell migration required for nerve regeneration through Slit2/3 mediated contact inhibition of locomotion
eLife 13:e88872.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.88872

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.88872

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