May 9 with Richard Guyer
Forces Generated by Cell Intercalation Tow Epidermal Sheets in Mammalian Tissue Morphogenesis
Presented by Richard Guyer, Graduate Student (Ian Macara Lab)
Heller et al. (2014) Developmental Cell 28(6); 617–632.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1534580714001270
Collective cell migration is a fundamental process in biology. Studies of early embryogenesis have provided many mechanistic insights into these movements. However, the complex cell mechanics necessary for tissue formation later in development are not as well understood. In particular, how epithelial sheets move relative to each other is largely unexplored. Using the closing embryonic mouse eyelid as a model, Heller et al uncovered a novel mechanism. Cell intercalations at the "eyelid front" cause perpendicular compressions of the surrounding epithelium, and generate shear forces that tow the nascent eyelid across the underlying corneal epithelium.