Journal Article

Gap geometry dictates epithelial closure efficiency

Modeling plant morphogenesis at different scales, from genes to phenotype (VIRTUAL PLANTS) ; Centre Inria d'Université Côte d'Azur (CRISAM) ; Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (Inria)-Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (Inria)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Amélioration génétique et adaptation des plantes méditerranéennes et tropicales (UMR AGAP) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut

2015

Overview

Closure of wounds and gaps in tissues is fundamental for the correct development and physiology of multicellular organisms and, when misregulated, may lead to inflammation and tumorigenesis. To re-establish tissue integrity, epithelial cells exhibit coordinated motion into the void by active crawling on the substrate and by constricting a supracellular actomyosin cable. Coexistence of these two mechanisms strongly depends on the environment. However, the nature of their coupling remains elusive because of the complexity of the overall process. Here we demonstrate that epithelial gap geometry in both in vitro and in vivo regulates these collective mechanisms. In addition, the mechanical coupling between actomyosin cable contraction and cell crawling acts as a large-scale regulator to control the dynamics of gap closure. Finally, our computational modelling clarifies the respective roles of the two mechanisms during this process, providing a robust and universal mechanism to explain how epithelial tissues restore their integrity.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group,CCSD,Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Pub. Group
• Subject: 13/106 / 14/35 / 14/63 / 631/80/79/1987 / 631/80/84 / 9/10 / Actomyosin - metabolism / Analysis of PDEs / Animals / Biochemistry, Molecular Biology / Biomechanics / Cell Movement - physiology / Computer Simulation / Dogs / Drosophila melanogaster / Epithelial Cells - physiology / Epithelium / Fluorescent Antibody Technique / Humanities and Social Sciences / In Vitro Techniques / Intravital Microscopy / Laser Therapy / Life Sciences / Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells / Mathematics / Mechanics / Microsurgery / multidisciplinary / Numerical Analysis / Physics / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Wound Healing - physiology